What do I actually walk away with when I sell?

The subtractions, in the order they happen

• What is still owed on the mortgage. The balance on settlement day, not the balance on your last statement.
• Any break cost on a fixed loan. Calculated by the lender, and only knowable by asking them for it in writing.
• The agency fee, and GST on it. Set out in the agency agreement you sign before the campaign starts. GST is added on top of the fee, so read the agreement for which figure is which.
• Any administration or transaction charge. A separate line from the fee itself. It should be written in the agency agreement.
• The marketing spend, if it has not already been paid. Agreed in writing before it is spent, and either invoiced during the campaign or deducted at the end.
• Legal fees. Your lawyer's charge for the conveyancing and the disbursements that go with it.
• Rates and body corporate levies, apportioned. Apportioned means the year's charges are split at the settlement date. You carry them to that day and the buyer carries them from it. If you have paid ahead the buyer credits you, and if you have not, it comes off your side.
• Moving. Movers, storage, cleaning, and the gap between leaving one place and getting into the next.

What each one depends on

The mortgage figure depends on the settlement date, so ask your bank for a payout figure to that date rather than working off a statement. The break cost depends on the rate, the time left and where wholesale rates have moved. The agency fee and the administration charge depend on what you sign, which is why the agreement is worth reading line by line before the campaign starts.

The marketing figure depends on the plan you agree, and it should be agreed in writing before any of it is spent. Legal fees depend on the complexity of the title and whether anything unusual arises. Apportionment depends purely on the settlement date and what you have already paid.

The number that matters

The figure at the bottom is the one to plan around, because it is what funds the next move: the deposit on the next place, the loan you will need, and whether the two settlements can be lined up at all. A price is only useful once it has been run through the subtractions above.

There is a tool on this site that does this arithmetic for your own situation, so you can see the bottom line before you commit to anything. It is here: the numbers on your own move.