A Maryland seller’s net proceeds turn on six lines: mortgage payoff, commission, the seller’s share of transfer and recordation taxes, settlement fees, any concession you agreed to, and prorated property taxes, which usually come back to you as a credit. In the worked example below, a $425,000 sale carries costs of roughly 7.5 percent before the mortgage payoff.
Most sellers don’t see that percentage until the week of closing. A cost list only names the line items, while a net sheet does the arithmetic and produces the number that actually gets wired to you. This guide builds that number using Maryland rates from the statutes and county offices that set them.
Key Takeaways
- Net proceeds = sale price − payoff − commission − your half of transfer and recordation taxes − settlement fees − concessions + prorated property tax credit.
- Maryland splits recordation and transfer taxes equally between buyer and seller by default (Md. Real Property §14-104), so your tax share runs about 1.1 percent of the price in Anne Arundel County.
- Maryland’s tax year runs July 1 to June 30, so a fall closing usually sends money back to the seller as a proration credit.
- Title companies withhold 8.75 percent of the total payment from nonresident individual sellers at closing (Comptroller of Maryland, effective for sales after June 30, 2025). That money is a prepayment of income tax, not a cost.
- Sellers gave buyers a concession in 46.2 percent of U.S. home sales over the three months ending May 31, 2026, up from 43.1 percent a year earlier (Redfin).
What is a seller net sheet, and who gives you one?
A seller net sheet is a one-page estimate that starts at your sale price and subtracts every cost of closing to show your take-home proceeds. In Maryland, your agent prepares it before you list and updates it with each offer. The title company produces the final version, the settlement statement, shortly before closing.
The net sheet is a planning tool, so it uses estimates and changes as the deal changes. The settlement statement is the final accounting, and it’s the one you sign.
Ask for a net sheet at three moments: before you set a list price, when you receive an offer, and again if the buyer requests repairs or a concession after inspection. Each of those events moves the bottom line, and in the example below the two negotiable lines alone account for $29,250.
If you want the full itemized breakdown of what each cost is and why it exists, our guide to Maryland seller closing costs covers the line items, the county tax table, and the costs that aren’t yours to pay. This article does the math those line items feed into.
How is net proceeds actually calculated?
Net proceeds follow one formula, and every Maryland net sheet is a version of it. Start with the contract sale price. Subtract the payoff, commission, your share of transfer and recordation taxes, settlement fees, and concessions. Then add back your property tax proration credit. What remains is your wire.
Written out:
Sale price − mortgage payoff − commission − seller’s share of transfer and recordation taxes − settlement and document fees − seller concessions + property tax proration credit = net proceeds
Two of those five subtractions are effectively fixed. The tax rates are set by statute and county ordinance, starting with the 0.5 percent state transfer tax on the consideration under Md. Code, Tax-Property §13-203, and your payoff is whatever your lender says it is. The remaining three, commission, settlement fees and concessions, are negotiable, which is where you have leverage.
Why is your mortgage payoff bigger than your loan balance?
Your payoff is not the balance on your last statement. It’s the principal balance plus interest accrued through the payoff date, plus any recording or release fee your lender charges, minus any escrow the servicer applies. The size of the gap is arithmetic you can run yourself: multiply your balance by your rate, divide by 365, and multiply by the days between your last payment and closing. Ask your servicer for a written payoff quote rather than estimating.
The mechanic is per-diem interest. Mortgage interest accrues daily and you pay it in arrears, so the payment you made on the first of the month covered the previous month. Every day between that payment and your closing date adds interest nobody has billed you for yet.
Payoff statements are also dated. Your title company orders a quote good through a specific date, and if closing slips past it, the title company has to reorder it at a higher number. When settlement gets pushed a week, this is the line that moves.
Escrow works the other way. If your lender collected taxes and insurance in escrow, the servicer refunds that balance after the loan closes, usually by check within a few weeks rather than in your closing wire. A good net sheet notes it outside the main column.
How do Maryland property tax prorations work?
Maryland’s property tax year runs July 1 through June 30, and counties issue bills around July 1 for the year ahead. Because the tax is billed forward rather than backward, a seller who has paid the bill and then closes mid-year has prepaid for months the buyer will own the home. At settlement, the buyer reimburses the seller for those days. That reimbursement shows up as a credit, which is why a fall closing in Maryland often sends money back to the seller.
Take a home assessed at $425,000 in unincorporated Anne Arundel County. For FY2027 the county rate is $0.96800 per $100 of assessment and the state rate is $0.11200, or $1.08000 combined (Anne Arundel County Government, Current Tax Rates), which produces an annual bill of $4,590. Divided across 365 days, that’s $12.58 per day. A seller closing on October 15, 2026 has owned the home for 106 days of the tax year, leaving 259 days that belong to the buyer. The credit back to the seller is about $3,257.
The wrinkle is which bill you actually paid. Maryland offers a semiannual schedule for principal residences, with one installment due by September 30 and the second by December 31 (Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation, Questions and Answers on Semiannual Property Tax Payment). A seller on that schedule who closes October 15 has paid only the first $2,295 installment, covering July through December. The credit in that case is roughly $973, not $3,257.
Neither figure is wrong. They differ because the seller prepaid different amounts, so before you trust any proration number, check which installments you have paid.
What do seller concessions do to your bottom line?
A concession is money you credit the buyer at closing, usually toward their closing costs or a mortgage rate buydown. It comes directly out of your proceeds, dollar for dollar, and it doesn’t reduce your transfer taxes or commission, because both are calculated on the full contract price.
Concessions are common right now. Across the three months ending May 31, 2026, sellers gave buyers a concession in 46.2 percent of U.S. home sales, up from 43.1 percent in the same period a year earlier, according to Redfin’s report “46% of Home Sellers Gave Concessions to Buyers in May” published June 22, 2026. Redfin counts money toward repairs, closing costs and rate buydowns, but not a reduction in list price.
That distinction matters on your sheet. A $10,000 price cut and a $10,000 concession look similar on paper, but they behave differently. The price cut lowers your transfer tax and commission slightly, because both scale with price. The concession doesn’t, and it keeps the recorded sale price higher, which matters to the buyer’s appraisal and to future comparable sales on your street.
How hard buyers push on this depends on local conditions. In August 2026, the Baltimore metro had 14.7 percent more active inventory than a year earlier while new listings fell 8.5 percent, per Bright MLS’s August 2026 Housing Market Report published September 10, 2026. More standing inventory generally means more negotiating on concessions. Our summer 2026 Maryland market update tracks these conditions in more detail.
A worked example: $425,000 in Anne Arundel County
The table below runs a complete net sheet on a $425,000 sale closing October 15, 2026 in unincorporated Anne Arundel County. The price is the Baltimore metro median sold price for August 2026, up 2.4 percent year over year (Bright MLS, August 2026 Housing Market Report). Tax rates come from the statutes and the county’s own finance page. Lines marked “assumed” are inputs specific to your situation, not published figures. The proration line also assumes the property’s assessed value equals the sale price and that the full year’s tax was paid; your assessment is set by the state and is usually a different number, so check your own bill.
| Line | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $425,000.00 | Baltimore metro median, Aug 2026 (Bright MLS) |
| Mortgage payoff | −$250,000.00 | Assumed |
| Commission, 5% total | −$21,250.00 | Assumed; fully negotiable |
| State transfer tax, seller half of 0.5% | −$1,062.50 | Md. Tax-Property §13-203 |
| County transfer tax, seller half of 1.0% | −$2,125.00 | Anne Arundel County Finance |
| Recordation tax, seller half of $7 per $1,000 | −$1,487.50 | Anne Arundel County Finance |
| Seller concession | −$8,000.00 | Assumed |
| Settlement and document fees | −$1,200.00 | Assumed |
| Property tax proration credit | +$3,257.00 | FY2027 rate, Oct 15 closing; assumes $425,000 assessment, full year paid |
| Net proceeds | $143,132.00 |
The seller’s combined transfer and recordation tax comes to $4,675, or 1.1 percent of the sale price. Total costs excluding the mortgage payoff come to $31,868, about 7.5 percent of the price.
Commission and the concession together make up $29,250 of that $31,868, and those are the two lines you negotiate. The tax lines are set by statute and county, and the proration by the calendar.
Change the county and the tax lines move. Anne Arundel charges 1.0 percent county transfer tax on transactions up to $999,999.99 and 1.5 percent at $1 million and above, plus recordation at $7.00 per thousand, rounded up to the nearest $500 (Anne Arundel County Government, Recordation and Transfer Tax). Baltimore County, Howard County and Baltimore City each set their own rates, which is why a net sheet built for a Severna Park listing doesn’t transfer cleanly to a Towson one.
One statutory exception can raise your tax share substantially. If your buyer is a first-time Maryland homebuyer who will occupy the home as a principal residence, §14-104 moves the whole tax burden to the seller: the entire recordation tax and county transfer tax, unless the contract expressly says otherwise, plus the entire state transfer tax, which the statute does not let the parties reassign. The state rate is halved to 0.25 percent in that case (Md. Tax-Property §13-203), but you pay all of it instead of half. Our first-time buyer programs guide explains who qualifies, and the closing costs guide works through what that shift costs.
Why do out-of-state sellers see an 8.75 percent line?
If you no longer live in Maryland, the title company withholds Maryland income tax at closing before wiring your proceeds. The rate is 8.75 percent for nonresident individuals and 8.25 percent for nonresident entities, and it applies to all sales occurring after June 30, 2025, per the Comptroller of Maryland’s tax alert “Rate Change to Withholding on Sale of Real Property by a Nonresident” (alert dated April 13, 2026).
On a $425,000 sale, the title company holds back roughly $37,188 from an individual nonresident. That single line dwarfs every other cost on the sheet, and it catches people who inherited a Maryland property or moved away years ago.
That line is less alarming than it looks. The withholding is a prepayment of income tax rather than a cost, so Maryland credits it against what you owe and refunds the rest if you overpaid. The Comptroller also runs an exemption process for sellers who can show that less tax, or none, will be owed.
The size of that number comes from what the rate applies to. The Comptroller states the rates “are applied to the total payment to a nonresident,” not to your profit. Even a seller with little or no gain gives up 8.75 percent of the gross at the closing table unless an exemption certificate is already in place. If you’re selling from out of state, raise this with your title company early, because the paperwork has to precede settlement.
Which Maryland lines catch sellers off guard?
A generic net-proceeds estimate built on national averages won’t include the Maryland-specific items below, and all three are routine in the Baltimore and Annapolis markets. Check them before you list.
Ground rent affects parts of Baltimore and the surrounding area, where an annual payment goes to a separate leasehold owner. Only ground rents registered with the state are legally collectible, and the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation maintains the searchable registry. If your property carries one, you have to address or redeem it at settlement.
HOA and condo dues get prorated to the closing date the same way property taxes do. The resale certificate carries a document fee and takes time to produce, so order yours as soon as you’re under contract.
Municipal water is the third one to check. Some Maryland jurisdictions bill quarterly and treat an unpaid balance as a lien against the property, and settlement clears it out of your proceeds.
None of these is large next to commission, but all three can delay a closing, and a delay costs you per-diem interest on a mortgage you’re still paying.
Get your numbers before you list
Every line above changes with your county, your payoff, your closing date and your buyer.
Request a seller’s net sheet and we’ll build your bottom line from live comparable sales for your address, with your county’s tax rates, your payoff and your closing date. Call 443-901-2200 or request your net sheet.
If you’re earlier in the process, our guide to how to sell a home in Maryland walks through the sequence, and the staging guide covers what pre-listing spending tends to return.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate my net proceeds when selling a house in Maryland?
Subtract your mortgage payoff, commission, your share of transfer and recordation taxes, settlement fees and any buyer concession from the sale price, then add your property tax proration credit. Maryland splits recordation and transfer taxes equally between buyer and seller by default under Md. Real Property §14-104.
How much does a Maryland seller pay in transfer and recordation tax?
In Anne Arundel County, on a sale under $1 million, a seller’s combined share is about 1.1 percent of the sale price. That’s half of the 0.5 percent state transfer tax (Md. Tax-Property §13-203), half of the county’s 1.0 percent transfer tax, and half of recordation at $7.00 per thousand. Rates differ by county, and the county transfer tax rises to 1.5 percent at $1 million and above.
Do Maryland sellers get money back for property taxes at closing?
Usually yes. Maryland’s tax year runs July 1 to June 30 and counties bill in advance, so a seller who has already paid gets a credit for the days after closing. On a $4,590 annual bill with an October 15 closing, that credit is roughly $3,257 if the full year was paid.
What is the Maryland nonresident seller withholding tax?
Maryland withholds 8.75 percent of the total payment to nonresident individuals and 8.25 percent to nonresident entities at closing, effective for sales after June 30, 2025 (Comptroller of Maryland). It’s a prepayment of income tax, not a cost: it’s credited against what you owe, and any excess comes back to you. Sellers can also apply for a full or partial exemption certificate before settlement.
Does a seller concession reduce my transfer tax in Maryland?
No. Transfer and recordation taxes are calculated on the full contract sale price, so a concession reduces your proceeds dollar for dollar without lowering your tax. A price reduction of the same amount does lower both tax and commission slightly, because both scale with the recorded price.
When should I ask my agent for a net sheet?
Ask three times: before setting your list price, when you receive each offer, and again if the buyer requests repairs or a concession after inspection. In NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 91 percent of sellers used a real estate agent or broker, and median seller tenure reached 11 years, an all-time high (National Association of REALTORS®).
Sources
- Md. Code, Tax-Property §13-203 (state transfer tax rate), retrieved 2026-09-10, https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtp§ion=13-203
- Md. Code, Real Property §14-104 (default equal split; first-time buyer rule), retrieved 2026-09-10, https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=14-104
- Anne Arundel County Government, Recordation and Transfer Tax, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.aacounty.org/finance/tax-information/recordation-and-transfer-tax
- Anne Arundel County Government, Current Tax Rates (FY2027), retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.aacounty.org/finance/tax-information/current-tax-rates
- Comptroller of Maryland, Maryland Tax Alert: Rate Change to Withholding on Sale of Real Property by a Nonresident, effective April 13, 2026, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.marylandcomptroller.gov/content/dam/mdcomp/tax/legal-publications/alerts/tax-alert-rate-change-to-withholding-on-sale-of-real-property-by-a-nonresident.pdf
- Bright MLS, August 2026 Housing Market Report, published 2026-09-10, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/10/3359681/0/en/bright-mls-august-2026-housing-market-report-mid-atlantic-housing-market-cools.html
- Redfin, 46% of Home Sellers Gave Concessions to Buyers in May, the Highest Share on Record For That Month, published 2026-06-22, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.redfin.com/news/home-seller-concessions-record-high-rate/
- Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation, Questions and Answers on Semiannual Property Tax Payment, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/pages/question-and-answers-on-semiannual-property-tax-payment.aspx
- Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation, Ground Rent, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/Pages/Ground-Rent.aspx
- National Association of REALTORS®, Top 10 Takeaways from NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, published 2025-11-03, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/top-10-takeaways-from-nars-2025-profile-of-home-buyers-and-sellers
Tax rates, statutes and market figures cited here were retrieved on September 10, 2026 and are subject to change. This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Confirm current rates with your county finance office and consult a tax professional about your situation.
