The Walk-Away Number: What You'll Actually Take Home After Selling in Las Vegas

Your home may be worth $700,000. That figure gets all the attention at dinner parties, in online estimates and on the front page of a listing. But it is not the number that matters most to you.

The number that matters is what you actually walk away with. I call it your Walk-Away Number, and it is the first thing I work through with sellers. It is the figure that tells you whether a move is affordable, whether the timing works and whether selling is even the right decision.

The gap between the sale price and your bank deposit comes from a handful of places: the payoff on your mortgages and any liens, real estate commission, title and escrow fees, seller concessions the buyer asks for, prorations for property taxes and HOA dues, and whatever repairs or credits get negotiated during inspections.

Every situation is different. The exact list depends on your loan documents, your HOA, how the property is marketed and what the buyer and inspector find. That is why an algorithm's estimate is not the same thing as a line-by-line calculation done from your actual paperwork.

I put together a one-page Walk-Away Number worksheet that lays out three scenarios: a conservative price, a realistic price and a strong price. Each column shows the estimated closing costs, the loan payoff, concessions and what you would deposit at close.

We can also model the what-ifs. What if you wait six months? What if you spend $15,000 refreshing the kitchen first? What if the buyer asks for closing help? Small changes move the number, and you should see those moves before you commit to anything.

I have had sellers realize the move they were planning was more affordable than they assumed, and sellers who looked at the number and decided the move was not worth it yet. Both outcomes are useful. That is the point of doing the math first.

The sellers who regret their decisions almost always made them without the number in front of them. The ones who walk away satisfied usually know exactly what they are walking away with.

If you are curious, ask for a Walk-Away Number worksheet for your address. Send me your property details and mortgage situation and I will come back with the math, no obligation and no pressure. It is the conversation I would want someone to have with me.