The seller's net-proceeds napkin
Two lines are fixed by the state — the $2,509 title premium and the $0 transfer tax. Everything else is a blank your documents fill in. Here's the napkin, worked at a price inside Willow Park's published band.
The short answer
There is no honest single “it costs X% to sell” number — most of a Texas seller's closing costs are negotiated, not fixed. But the napkin has exactly two hard lines, and they're both good news: Texas charges no transfer tax (constitutionally prohibited since 2016), and the owner's title policy follows a state-set schedule — $2,509 on a $450,000 sale under TDI's rates effective March 1, 2026. Everything else is a blank you fill in from documents you can demand up front. This page is the napkin.
Verified 2026-08-23 · title premium from TDI's 2026 schedule · example price sits in Willow Park's published band
The napkin, line by line
Worked at $450,000 — inside the typical band this site publishes for Willow Park ($430K–$600K, public listing data, summer 2026), and a realistic mid-corridor number from Hudson Oaks to Benbrook:
| Line item | Worked example at $450,000 | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $450,000 | Your contract — the example sits inside Willow Park's published band ($430K–$600K) |
| Owner's title policy | −$2,509 | TDI's basic premium schedule effective 2026-03-01; customarily seller-paid in Texas, but negotiable in the contract |
| Transfer tax | $0 | Texas constitutionally prohibits real-estate transfer taxes (since 2016) |
| Mortgage payoff | − your balance | Order the payoff letter from your lender — it includes per-diem interest |
| Property-tax proration | − your slice of the year | Texas taxes are paid in arrears: you credit the buyer for Jan 1 through closing day |
| Escrow / settlement fee | − company-specific | Varies by title company — ask for the fee sheet before you pick one |
| HOA resale certificate & transfer fees | − HOA-specific | Get the itemized list in writing from the management company |
| Agent compensation | − whatever you negotiate | Negotiable and set in writing in your listing agreement — there is no fixed rate |
| Repairs / option-period concessions | − what you agree to | Comes out of the inspection negotiation |
The title premium deserves one more sentence, because it's the line sellers overpay attention to and underpay attention around: the premium is promulgated — set by the Texas Department of Insurance, identical at every title company — computed as (price − $100,000) × 0.00494 + $780 for homes between $100K and $1M. What varies between companies is the escrow/settlement fee, which is why the fee sheet, not the premium, is the thing to shop.
The three documents that fill in the blanks
- The payoff letter from your lender — your true balance plus per-diem interest to the closing date. Order it early; it has an expiration date.
- The title company's fee sheet — the escrow fee and any add-ons. This is the shoppable part.
- The HOA's resale package quote — resale certificate, transfer fees, any capital contribution billed at transfer. Get it itemized, in writing, from the management company.
With those three plus your negotiated compensation terms, the napkin closes to a real number — before you list, not at the closing table.
Who this applies to
Move-up sellers running whether the equity actually covers the next down payment — pair this with sell before you buy and the equity report. Corridor owners gut-checking a listing price against what actually lands in the account — the per-city bands live on the selling hub. Anyone comparing offers — a higher price with heavy concessions can net less than a clean lower one; the napkin makes that visible.
Taxes on the gain are the other half of the picture: capital gains, plain English covers the federal exclusion most owner-occupants qualify for — and after closing, the buyer's side of the ledger starts with the homestead exemption on the next house.
Next steps
- Order the payoff letter and pull your last mortgage statement.
- Ask two title companies for their fee sheets (the premium is identical; the escrow fee isn't).
- Request the HOA resale-package quote in writing, if you have an HOA.
- Run your own number through the napkin above — then sanity-check the price against what's my home worth.
Sources
- Texas Department of Insurance — Basic Premium Rates for title insurance, effective 2026-03-01: $780 at $100,000; (face − $100,000) × 0.00494 + $780 for $100,001–$1,000,000. The $2,509 figure is that formula at $450,000.
- Transfer tax — prohibited by the Texas Constitution (statewide Proposition 1, approved 2015, effective 2016).
- Example price — inside the Willow Park typical sale band ($430K–$600K) published on /sell/willow-park, compiled from public listing data, summer 2026.
Verified 2026-08-23. Educational only — not legal, tax, or financial advice for any specific transaction; your contract terms govern.
Keep reading
the selling hub · capital gains, plain English · sell before you buy · what's my home worth · the buyer's homestead exemption
Want the neighborhood-level bands with your napkin?
We track the corridor's sale bands as the compilations update. The early list hears when your pocket's numbers move — no other mail.