Two numbers decide how you can make a move: what you will walk away with from the sale, and how much cash the next purchase needs at closing. This calculator works out both from your own figures. The only numbers it supplies are two Georgia taxes set by statute.
Decision tool · Net proceeds and bridge gap
What will you walk away with, and what will you need to bridge?
Step 1: your sale. Step 2: your next home. The calculator subtracts what you enter and Georgia’s transfer tax, then shows the cash the purchase needs and how much of it the sale covers if you sell first, or must be bridged if you buy first. We supply no price, no commission rate and no loan rate: those are yours.
Estimated net from the sale–
The bridge gap
If you sell first
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If you buy first
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Georgia’s transfer tax
Georgia charges $1 for the first $1,000 of the sale price and 10 cents for each further $100 or part of $100. On a $450,000 sale that is $450. Source: Georgia DOR.
On the new loan, Georgia’s intangible recording tax is $1.50 per $500, up to $25,000. Source: Georgia DOR.
Cash needed = down payment + your closing costs + intangible tax. Sell first: cash needed − your cash − the net. Buy first: cash needed − your cash.
- By law the transfer tax is owed by the person who signs the deed, the seller, but the sales contract often has the buyer pay it instead. Source: Georgia DOR
- If you owned and lived in the home for at least two of the five years before the sale, you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain from income tax, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly. Source: IRS Topic 701
- Fannie Mae’s rules say that if your current home is under contract but will not close before the new loan, the lender counts both housing payments unless it has the signed sales contract and confirmation that the buyer’s financing contingencies are cleared. Source: Fannie Mae B3-6-06
- When a nonresident sells Georgia real estate, the law requires 3 percent of the price to be withheld for state income tax, with exemptions that include selling your principal residence. Source: Georgia DOR
Want a real sale price to put in step 1? A Gold Peach Realty agent can prepare a pricing opinion from recent Lumpkin County sales.
What goes into the net
- Your payoff. Ask your lender for a payoff statement; it includes interest to the payoff date, so it is not the same as the balance on your last statement.
- The commission you agree. Commissions are negotiable. Type the rate in your listing agreement.
- Georgia’s transfer tax. $1 for the first $1,000 and 10 cents for each further $100. The seller owes it by law, but the contract can shift it to the buyer, so check yours.
- Everything else you expect. Repairs from the buyer’s inspection, any credit you agree to, your attorney’s fees, HOA letters. Put your own figure in “other costs and credits”.
What the purchase needs
Cash at closing is your down payment plus your own closing costs from the lender’s loan estimate. On the loan itself Georgia adds an intangible recording tax of $1.50 per $500, up to $25,000; the calculator includes it.
Reading the bridge gap
If you sell first, the net from your sale is in hand, so the gap is whatever your cash and the net together do not cover. A surplus means you can put more down or keep a reserve.
If you buy first, the sale has not happened yet, so the whole cash requirement, less the cash you already have, must come from somewhere else: a bridge loan, a home-equity line, a 401(k) loan or a sale-contingent offer. Remember the lender rule: if the old home will not close before the new loan, both housing payments may count when you qualify.
Taxes on the sale itself
If you owned and lived in the home for two of the last five years, up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly, is excluded from income tax. If you no longer live in Georgia, the closing attorney may have to withhold 3 percent of the price unless an exemption applies. Neither is in the calculator; ask a tax adviser about your case.