Before you list, it’s worth knowing exactly where your money goes between “under contract” and the check you walk away with. The cost to sell a home in Marble Falls breaks down into a handful of real categories, and I’d rather walk you through actual numbers than vague reassurances.
Commission: Why There’s No Fixed Rate
Texas has never had a set commission rate, and federal law actually requires that commissions stay negotiable; there’s no statutory percentage anyone is entitled to charge you. In practice, total commission (split between the listing side and buyer’s side) is typically negotiated as a percentage of the sale price, and it varies by property, market conditions, and the scope of service you’re asking for. I’ll go over exactly what my commission covers, including marketing, negotiation, transaction management, and everything in between, before you sign anything, so you know precisely what you’re paying for. For the full breakdown of how commission negotiation actually works and what changed in 2024, see my page on Marble Falls real estate commission rates.
Pre-Listing Costs
These are the expenses that come up before your home ever hits the MLS: repairs flagged by a pre-listing inspection, deep cleaning, minor cosmetic updates (paint, fixtures, landscaping), and sometimes staging. None of these are mandatory. Some pay for themselves in a faster sale or a stronger offer; others aren’t worth the money for your particular home. I’ll tell you which is which rather than pushing a blanket renovation list.
Closing Costs
In Texas, sellers typically pay for the owner’s title policy, and depending on how the contract is negotiated, may also cover part of the escrow/closing fee, a prorated share of property taxes for the year, and, if your home is in one of Marble Falls’ HOA subdivisions like Villa Vista or Stonehenge West, a resale certificate fee from the HOA. None of this is exotic, but it adds up, and I go over the full closing disclosure line by line with every seller before we get to the table.
Buyer Concessions
It’s common in negotiations for a buyer to ask the seller to cover part of their closing costs, or to credit money toward repairs identified during inspection, instead of doing the repair itself. Whether that’s worth agreeing to depends on your leverage in that specific deal: a concession that gets a deal to the finish line without renegotiating the whole contract is often worth more than the dollar amount on paper.
Carrying Costs While You Wait
Every day your home sits on the market, you’re still paying the mortgage, utilities, insurance, and taxes on it. This is the part of “cost to sell” people forget to budget for. It’s also the strongest argument for pricing correctly from day one (see my page on pricing your home to sell in Marble Falls), because a home that sits for months racks up carrying costs that eat directly into your net.
Capital Gains: What to Ask Your CPA
If you’ve lived in the home as your primary residence for at least two of the last five years, federal law lets you exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains if you’re single, or up to $500,000 if you’re married filing jointly, under the IRS Section 121 exclusion. I’m not a CPA and I won’t give you tax advice, but I will make sure you know to ask your tax professional about this before you sell, especially if it’s an investment property, a second home, or you haven’t lived there long enough to qualify.
Putting It Together
None of these categories are hidden or unusual; they’re the same costs every Texas home seller deals with. What changes is how they add up for your specific property, your HOA (if any), and how your sale gets negotiated. I sit down with sellers early and map out a real net-proceeds estimate before we list, so there are no surprises at the closing table.
I’m Robbie English, Broker and REALTOR at Uncommon Highland Lakes Realty. If you want a real breakdown of what selling your specific Marble Falls home would cost, call or text me at 830-953-5571, or reach out through callrobbie.com.
