What's the difference between your home's sales price and what you actually walk away with?
Your home's sale price and your net profit are two completely different numbers — and confusing the two is one of the most expensive mistakes Greenwich sellers make. After commissions, closing costs, and Connecticut's tiered conveyance tax structure, what you actually walk away with can be significantly less than the number on the contract. Worse, where your price lands relative to Connecticut's specific tax thresholds can quietly cost you tens of thousands of dollars more than a slightly lower asking price would have.
By Charles Nedder | May 16, 2026
Most sellers spend weeks obsessing over the right listing price. They study the comps. They debate whether to list at $2.4M or $2.5M. They watch what the neighbors got.
And almost none of them have actually calculated their net.
That's the number that matters — what you walk away with after commissions, closing costs, attorney fees, and Connecticut's conveyance tax. The sale price is what makes headlines. The net is what changes your life.
If you're thinking about selling, the first question isn't "what's my home worth?" It's "what will I actually clear?"
Those are two very different questions, and in a market like Greenwich — where homes routinely trade in ranges where Connecticut's tax structure shifts — the gap between them can be significant.
How Connecticut's Conveyance Tax Works (And Why It Catches Sellers Off Guard)
Connecticut charges a conveyance tax on every residential home sale. Most sellers know this exists. Few understand how its tiered structure interacts with their pricing strategy.
Here's how the tiers break down:
- First $800,000: 0.75% conveyance tax
- $800,001 to $2,500,000: 1.25% on the amount above $800,000
- Above $2,500,000: 2.25% on the amount above $2,500,000
That jump at $2,500,000 is the threshold most Greenwich sellers need to think hard about — because a large portion of this market trades right in that zone.
If your home sells at $2,550,000, the portion above $2,500,000 — just $50,000 — gets taxed at the highest rate. That's a real dollar impact on your net. And if your price is positioned just above the threshold without a strategic reason to be there, you may be paying more in taxes while also making your home less competitive with buyers comparing similar properties priced just under.
Watch Charles break this down at 0:18 — the specific threshold where many Greenwich homes land, and why small price differences matter more than sellers expect.
Why This Is Fundamentally a Strategy Problem
This isn't a tax problem. It's a strategy problem.
The sellers who lose the most money aren't the ones who priced too low. They're the ones who priced without a net-focused framework — who made decisions based on the sale price they wanted rather than the proceeds they needed.
A great example: two homes in Greenwich, nearly identical, both listed in the $2.4M–$2.6M range. One is priced at $2,525,000. The other at $2,499,000. On the surface, the first seller looks like they're getting more. But once you factor in the conveyance tax exposure above the threshold — and the potential chilling effect a price just over a psychological ceiling has on buyer activity — the second seller may actually net more, sell faster, and create a more competitive offer environment.
This is what strategic pricing for Greenwich home sellers actually looks like in practice. It's not just picking a number that feels high enough. It's understanding the mechanics of how price affects your final outcome — not just your asking position.
Want to stay on top of new listings and market data in Greenwich and the surrounding towns? Download The Charles Nedder Team Real Estate App — it puts live inventory, price changes, and neighborhood insights right on your phone. Get the app here.
The Full Net Calculation: What Sellers Should Be Running Before They List
Before you set a listing price, build your net sheet. Here's what to include:
- Agent commissions: Typically 4–5% of the sale price, split between listing and buyer's agent
- Connecticut conveyance tax: Calculated on the tiered structure above
- Attorney fees: Standard in Connecticut — typically $1,500–$3,000 for a residential closing
- Transfer taxes and recording fees: Municipal conveyance taxes may apply depending on the town
- Any agreed-upon seller concessions: Repairs, credits, closing cost contributions
- Mortgage payoff: Whatever balance remains on your existing loan
- Capital gains tax exposure: If your profit exceeds the federal exclusion ($250,000 for single filers, $500,000 for married), consult your CPA
The clients I work with who go through this exercise are often surprised. Not because the numbers are catastrophic, but because they didn't realize how much leverage they had in how those numbers land. Pricing strategy isn't just about competing in the market. It's about optimizing what you keep.
As Charles explains in the video, this is where most sellers unintentionally lose money — not in the negotiation, not in the market timing, but in the structural details of how a price decision interacts with costs they didn't fully map out in advance.
Practical Steps Before You Set Your List Price
Here's what a net-focused approach looks like before you go to market:
- Run your estimated net at multiple price points — not just the one you hope to get. Model $2,400,000, $2,500,000, and $2,550,000 and see what you actually take home at each.
- Map your price to the conveyance tax tiers — know where the thresholds are and how your position relative to them affects your total cost of sale.
- Understand buyer psychology at your price level — thresholds matter to buyers, too. A price just above a round number or a tax tier can suppress demand even if it's nominally higher.
- Factor in days on market (DOM) risk — every week your home sits unsold is lost carrying cost, and stale listings almost always result in price reductions that eat into your net more than smart initial pricing would have.
This is the kind of analysis that separates transactional real estate from strategic pricing that protects your net. It's not complicated — but most sellers never do it because their agent never asks them to.
The number that matters at the end of your sale isn't the one on the contract. It's the one that lands in your account. If you're planning to sell in Greenwich or the surrounding communities, start with that number — and work backward to your strategy.
Download The Charles Nedder Team Real Estate App to track real-time inventory and market movement in Greenwich, Old Greenwich, Riverside, Cos Cob, Darien, and Westchester County. When you're ready to run your full net analysis before listing, reach out at sales@cnedder.com or visit thecharlesnedderteam.com.
About Charles Nedder
Charles Nedder is a top Realtor and Team Leader in Greenwich, CT and Westchester County, NY, specializing in luxury real estate, home sales, and relocation. As CEO of The Charles Nedder Team — the #1 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices team in Connecticut — he helps clients buy and sell homes with confidence using advanced marketing, market analytics, and strong negotiation. Connect with Charles at www.thecharlesnedderteam.com or call (203) 654-7533.
