When you sell a home in New Zealand, the price on the sign is not the number that matters most to your next move. What matters is your net proceeds: what is left after your mortgage is repaid and the costs of selling are deducted. For most people that figure is the deposit on the next home, the cushion that lets a family settle somewhere safer, or the start of a more secure future. Getting it right early means you can plan with confidence instead of being surprised at settlement. Here is what net proceeds means, what comes out of the sale price, and how to estimate yours before you list.
Quick answer
Net proceeds is your sale price minus everything that has to be paid out of the sale. The biggest deductions are usually the balance owing on your mortgage and the agent's commission. On top of that sit marketing and advertising, any staging, legal and conveyancing fees, and small settlement adjustments such as rates already paid. A simple way to picture it: sale price, take off the mortgage payout, take off commission plus GST, take off marketing and legal costs, and what remains is roughly what you keep. The exact figure only firms up at settlement, but a careful estimate beforehand is usually close enough to plan around.
The detail, in plain English
Start with the agreed sale price in the sale and purchase agreement. The first deduction is your mortgage. Ask your bank for a current payout figure, because it includes any break costs if you are on a fixed rate, and that can be a real number worth knowing before you commit to selling. Next comes the agent's commission. In NZ this is negotiable and usually a tiered percentage of the sale price, and GST is added on top of the commission. Then there is marketing: professional photography, online listing, signage and any print or video, which is often paid whether or not the property sells, so confirm it in the agency agreement. Staging, if you use it, is a separate cost. Your lawyer or conveyancer charges a fee to handle the legal side and settlement. Finally there are settlement adjustments, where rates, body corporate levies or similar are split fairly between you and the buyer based on the settlement date. None of these are hidden if you ask the right questions up front, and a good agent will walk you through them before you sign anything.
What it means for you
Knowing your net proceeds changes how you make decisions. If you are selling to buy your next family home, your net proceeds plus your KiwiSaver and savings is your real deposit, and that determines what you can borrow and where you can buy. If you are downsizing to release equity for a calmer, more secure stage of life, net proceeds is the freedom number. And if you are weighing whether to sell at all, comparing your likely net proceeds against the cost and hassle of holding can make the choice clearer. The mistake to avoid is anchoring to the headline sale price and then being caught short at settlement. Build your plan on the net figure, leave a small buffer for surprises, and you stay in control of the move rather than reacting to it.
Common questions
Do net proceeds include my mortgage? No. Net proceeds is what remains after the mortgage is repaid, so the loan balance is one of the first things deducted. Does the buyer pay the commission? No. In NZ the seller pays the agent's commission out of the sale proceeds at settlement. Is GST charged on commission? Yes. The commission figure your agent quotes is usually before GST, so add it in when you estimate. What about the deposit the buyer pays? The deposit is part of the sale price, not extra, and it is often held in the agent's trust account until conditions are met, then it counts toward what you receive. Can I get a precise figure before I list? You can get a solid estimate. The exact number is finalised by your lawyer at settlement once adjustments are calculated.
Your next step
If you want to see your likely walk-away figure, our selling costs calculator lets you estimate net proceeds in a couple of minutes using indicative ranges, with an honest note that the final number is confirmed at settlement. To understand the costs in more depth, read our plain-English breakdown of agent commission and selling costs, or our guide to how much it costs to sell a house in NZ. When you are ready to move, we can match you with a licensed local agent who will give you a proper appraisal and a clear costs estimate, free and with no obligation. The earlier you know your number, the more confidently you can plan your next chapter.
In plain English: In plain English: net proceeds is the money you actually keep after your mortgage and selling costs come out of the sale price, and it is the number to plan your next move around. The figures here are general guidance current at time of writing; confirm your own situation with a licensed agent, lawyer or adviser.
General information, not personalised real-estate, legal or financial advice. Confirm your situation with a licensed adviser. Read the full disclaimer →