Every line item, with the ones people forget, from a brokerage that has closed more than 1,500 Utah transactions.
Plan on 6–8% of the sale price, all in. On a $700,000 South Jordan home that is roughly $42,000–$56,000, and the largest single piece is agent compensation, which is negotiable and agreed in writing before the home is listed. The rest is title and escrow, prorated property taxes, any HOA transfer fee, a state-required seller disclosure, and whatever buyer concessions the market is asking for that quarter.
Two things make Utah cheaper than most of the country. There is no state or local real estate transfer tax — Washington sellers pay well over 1% of the price for that line alone, and Utah sellers pay none of it. And Utah does not require an attorney at closing, so there is no separate legal fee the way there is in New York or Illinois.
The number that actually moves is not any of these fees. It is the price, and price is set in the first two weeks. A home that needs a correction almost always nets less than one priced correctly on day one, by more than the entire closing-cost column.
Agent compensation as negotiated on both sides, title insurance and escrow/settlement fees, a recording fee, prorated property taxes to the closing date, any HOA transfer or estoppel fee, and buyer concessions if you agree to them. Utah adds no transfer tax and no attorney requirement. Staging, pre-listing repairs and professional media sit outside that range and are optional, though media is not optional in practice.
It is negotiable, always, and it is agreed in writing before your home goes on the market. Since August 2024 buyer agents also work under a written agreement with their own client, which changed how buy-side compensation is discussed on every transaction. What you offer a buyer agent, if anything, is a strategy decision we make together with the current market in front of us, not a fixed number.
By custom in Utah the seller pays for the owner\u2019s title policy that protects the buyer, and the buyer pays for the lender\u2019s policy. Like everything else it is negotiable, and in a slower market we sometimes see it move. Expect the combined title and escrow line to land in the high hundreds to low thousands depending on price.
Utah property taxes are billed in arrears, due November 30 for the calendar year. At closing you credit the buyer for your share of the year up to the closing date. Sell in September and you are covering about three quarters of the year\u2019s bill out of proceeds — a real number that surprises sellers who budgeted only for fees.
No real estate transfer tax is the main reason. Utah is one of a minority of states with none at the state or county level. Add no attorney requirement at closing, and a Utah seller keeps roughly one to one and a half percent more of the sale price than a seller in a transfer-tax state would on the same transaction.
Paint, light fixtures, landscaping and decluttering return more per dollar than almost anything structural. Kitchen and bath remodels rarely return their full cost unless the existing one is genuinely dated. We give a prioritized list with rough costs and expected return, and we are equally willing to tell you to fix nothing when the market does not reward it.
The HOA transfer fee and the document package. Across the master-planned communities in South Jordan, Herriman and Riverton these run from under a hundred dollars to several hundred, they are ordered on a management company\u2019s timeline rather than yours, and a late order is one of the more common causes of a delayed closing.
It depends on what it is. Health and safety items — a failed water heater, an unsafe electrical panel, radon above the action level — are usually worth fixing, because they will surface again with the next buyer. Cosmetic and deferred maintenance items are usually better handled as a credit, which closes faster and does not put you in the contractor-scheduling business.
A price cut lowers your net and lowers the appraised comparison for your neighbors. A concession toward the buyer\u2019s closing costs or a rate buydown often costs you the same dollars but is worth more to the buyer, because it lowers their monthly payment rather than their purchase price. Which one to use is a live market judgment, and it changes quarter to quarter.
By getting the first two weeks right. The Moser Group at Premier Real Estate has closed more than 1,500 transactions and $388.6 million in Utah volume, with Rod Moser recognized as a Top 500 REALTOR by the Salt Lake Board 2022\u20132024 and Melody Moser in the top 5% of agents in the Salt Lake MLS. We price from closed comparables in the last 90 days, adjusted for lot, condition and finish, then pressure-test against active competition. Call 801-699-0525 or request a written analysis — there is no obligation attached to it.
A licensed Utah broker answers — usually the same day.