Nobody likes surprises at the closing table, and most of the surprises I see come from costs no one explained up front. So here is every cost of selling a home in Katy, Fulshear, or Cypress, in plain English. Your exact numbers go on a seller net sheet before you ever list, so you'll know what you walk away with before the sign goes in the yard.
1. Agent compensation
The largest line item, and the most misunderstood. Real estate commissions are not set by law and never have been. What you pay is negotiated and written into your listing agreement before your home hits the market.
Since the industry changes in 2024, there's also a second decision: whether to offer compensation to the buyer's agent. Offering it can widen your buyer pool, since buyers who must pay their own agent out of pocket may skip homes that don't offer it. Skipping it can save you money on the right home in the right market. It's a strategy call we make together, deal by deal, based on your home and your competition. Either way, you'll see every number in writing before you commit to anything.
2. Title policy and closing fees
In Texas, the seller customarily pays for the owner's title insurance policy, the buyer's protection that the title is clean. Texas title premiums are regulated by the state on a sliding scale tied to the sale price, so there's no shopping around and no haggling on the rate itself. On top of that come escrow and settlement fees, document preparation, and recording, which typically add several hundred to around a thousand dollars combined.
3. Property tax proration
Texas property taxes are paid in arrears, meaning at closing you credit the buyer for the portion of the year you owned the home. This matters more in Katy than in most places: many of our newer master-planned communities carry MUD taxes on top of county and school taxes, with combined rates often in the 2 to 3 percent range of assessed value. Close in October and you're crediting the buyer for roughly ten months of that. It's not a fee, it's taxes you'd owe anyway, but sellers who don't plan for it feel it.
4. HOA transfer and resale certificate
If your home is in an HOA, and in Katy's master-planned communities it almost certainly is, Texas requires a resale certificate for the buyer, and the management company charges for it, plus transfer fees. Plan on a few hundred dollars, set by your HOA's management company, not by you or me.
5. Repairs and buyer concessions
After the buyer's inspection, expect a repair request. This is the most negotiable number in the whole transaction and where representation earns its keep. Sometimes the right answer is fixing items, sometimes a credit, sometimes holding firm. In today's balanced market, buyers are also asking for closing-cost help and rate buydowns again. Whether to give it depends on your price, your competition, and how the home showed. Budget flexibility here, and treat every dollar of it as negotiation, not obligation.
6. Getting the home ready
Paint, deep cleaning, landscaping touch-ups, and small repairs are usually the highest-return money you'll spend, and it's often a modest amount. What I won't let you do is pour money into projects that don't return at closing. Before you spend anything, we walk the home room by room with one filter: does this dollar come back?
What that looks like on a real number
Houston's median single-family price was about $330,000 in the latest HAR report. Here's an illustrative range at that price. Your net sheet will have your exact figures.
| Cost | Notes | Illustrative range |
|---|---|---|
| Agent compensation | Negotiable, in writing up front; depends on your buyer-agent strategy | varies |
| Owner's title policy | State-regulated sliding scale | ~$2,000s |
| Escrow, docs & recording | Title company settlement fees | $500–$1,000 |
| Property tax proration | Your months owned, at your community's rate | depends on closing date |
| HOA resale certificate & transfer | Set by your HOA's management company | a few hundred |
| Repairs & concessions | The negotiable middle; market-dependent | $0 and up |
| Prep & staging | Only what pays back | often under $2,000 |
| All-in, typical | Everything above, before mortgage payoff | ~7–10% of price |
One more number that isn't a cost but surprises people: your mortgage payoff is the loan balance plus interest through funding day, which usually differs a bit from your last statement. The title company requests the exact payoff for closing.
How to know your exact number
Every one of these figures gets pinned down in a seller net sheet built alongside your home valuation: your likely sale price from real comps, minus every cost above, down to what hits your account at funding. I run one for every seller before we list, and I'm happy to run one for you even if selling is a year away.
Full-time REALTOR® with eXp Realty in Katy, TX (TREC License #788889). Rated 4.98/5 across 40 verified HAR client surveys and 5.0 on Google. Read the reviews or call or text 515-631-2378.
This guide is educational, not legal or tax advice, and every transaction is different. Figures reflect Texas customs and the August 2026 HAR market report; commissions and most closing terms are negotiable. For advice on your specific situation, talk to your agent, CPA, or attorney.