The real rate you pay when selling a house
What is the fee-to-equity ratio when selling a house?
Net Gain Realty defines the fee-to-equity ratio as the listing fee divided by your equity, not your sale price. Enter your price and your mortgage payoff below and the calculator shows an example 2.5 percent listing fee and a flat $1,995 as a share of the money that is actually yours.
Licensed Illinois Brokerage #481.014232 · Commission rates are negotiable and not set by law · All figures are estimates
Estimated difference at $500,000
Estimate Your Net Proceeds
Adjust the inputs below to see an estimate of what you may net from your Chicago area home sale.
Chicago transfer tax, seller portion: $1.50 per $500 (0.30%). The buyer customarily pays the larger city portion, $3.75 per $500 (0.75%).
Optional. Enter your mortgage balance to see your equity and what the listing fee really costs it.
Use your most recent tax bill. Provides a timing-based estimate of seller tax credit.
Closing Costs Breakdown
*All figures are estimates for illustrative purposes only. Commission rates are negotiable and shown as examples. Closing costs, transfer taxes, and fees are approximate and may differ based on your specific transaction. Net Gain Realty makes no guarantees regarding sale price, net proceeds, or savings. Consult with a licensed attorney before making real estate decisions.
What the listing fee costs
On a $500,000 sale:
Traditionally the listing side has been a 2 to 3 percent fee. It is quoted on the sale price and paid out of your equity. At Net Gain Realty the listing fee is a flat $1,995, full service. It's your equity. Keep it.
Next step
All figures are estimates. Commission rates are negotiable and shown as examples.
The receipts.
Matthew McMahon
Designated Managing Broker, Net Gain Realty
Illinois Real Estate Broker License #471.022195
Google Reviews
Amber J.
We hired Net Gain Realty to sell our $1.5M single family home in Chicago. We highly recommend Matt and Net Gain Realty to anyone looking for a seamless experience! In just 3 days of listing with Net Gain, we received multiple offers above listing price! Throughout the process, each task was handled professionally and efficiently—from the initial price analysis to the listing process and through the sale negotiation to closing execution. Response times and communication were quick and pleasant...better than most traditional realtors. Avoid the overrated price tag of standard realtors, call Net Gain Realty!!
Read on GoogleBraden J.
If there was a sixth star to give Matt, I would have given it. His communication and work ethic far exceeded that of even a full service Realtor. We saved tens of thousands of dollars on a 7 figure transaction. I’ve never had a more efficient home sale experience in my life.
Read on GooglePeggy C.
Matt was awesome to work with! He helped sell my condo in Oak Lawn, IL in less than 24hrs! And it went for over ask! My favorite part is that he charged me a flat fee of $1,995 instead of taking 2-3% of the sales price. That was a huge help for me and helped get me the most money in my pockets. Thanks Net Gain Realty for making this process as smooth as possible!
Read on GoogleBrendan B.
Matt was very easy to work with and very helpful during the process. Also saved us a lot of money on his very low commission. Would highly recommend.
Read on GoogleSharon M.
Net Gain Realty did a fantastic job selling my home! They had multiple showings and got my house under contract in just 4 days, selling it for $20,000 over asking. On top of that, they saved me $7,000 in commission fees compared to what a traditional realtor would have charged. Matt at Net Gain Realty provided full-service representation for a flat fee of just $1,995 here in Chicago, which is an incredible value. Throughout the entire process, he was extremely professional, responsive, and knowledgeable. I truly felt he had my best interests in mind every step of the way. I would highly recommend using Net Gain Realty. They delivered exceptional results and provided a better experience (and outcome) than any traditional realtor I've worked with.
Read on Google904 S Miller St, Chicago
Listed $1,475,000 Sold $1,560,000
$85,000 over asking
$9,225 in seller credits.
9440 S 51st Ave #211, Oak Lawn
Listed $194,900 Sold $200,000
$5,100 over asking
2252 Runway Dr, New Lenox
Listed $509,900 Sold $515,000
$5,100 over asking
$1,500 in seller concessions.
9613 S Kostner Ave, Oak Lawn
Listed $289,900 Sold $310,000
$20,100 over asking
$3,000 in seller concessions.
See every closing, with the full pricing and contract-to-closing file for 904 S Miller.
Sale figures are from closed MLS records. The amount kept compares the $1,995 flat fee against a 2.5% listing fee, used here as an example only. Commission rates vary and are always negotiable. Past results, and every home and every market is different.
This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC for the period August 19, 2025 through August 31, 2026. Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC does not guarantee nor is it in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by Midwest Real Estate Data LLC may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.
The fee-to-equity ratio when selling a house
Net Gain Realty defines the fee-to-equity ratio as the real rate a home seller pays a listing agent: the listing fee divided by the seller’s actual equity, not the sale price. A percentage listing fee is quoted on the full sale price but paid out of the seller’s equity, so the ratio is almost always far higher than the quoted percentage, and it rises the more the seller still owes on the mortgage.
The term was introduced by Matthew McMahon, founder and designated managing broker of Net Gain Realty, a licensed full-service flat fee brokerage in the Chicago metro, to describe a cost that the traditional percentage model leaves unmeasured.
The calculator at the top of this page runs the ratio on your own numbers. Enter the sale price and the mortgage payoff, and it shows the listing fee two ways, an example 2.5 percent and Net Gain Realty’s flat $1,995, each as a share of your equity.
All figures on this page are estimates for illustration. Commission rates are not set by law, vary by brokerage, and are fully negotiable. Buyer-agent compensation is separate and negotiated per offer. Net Gain Realty makes no guarantees regarding sale price, net proceeds, or savings.
Why the rate you are quoted is not the rate you pay
Traditionally, the listing fee on a home sale has been quoted as a percentage of the sale price. That percentage is the core of how realtors in Chicago get paid. But a seller does not own the sale price. Until the mortgage is paid off, the lender owns most of it. The only money in the home that is actually the seller’s is the equity. And the listing fee comes out of that equity.
So there are two different numbers. The rate quoted against the sale price, and the rate paid against the seller’s own money. The fee-to-equity ratio is the second one, and it is the one that decides how much of your wealth a sale actually costs you.
“That fee is quoted on the sale price. But it is paid out of your equity. Two different numbers. Only one of them is yours.”
Matthew McMahon, Designated Managing Broker, Net Gain Realty
The gap between the two numbers is the subject of how realtor commission compares to home equity in Chicago, a deeper walk through the same math.
How to calculate your fee-to-equity ratio
The formula
The formula is simple:
Fee-to-equity ratio = listing fee ÷ your home equity
Your home equity is your sale price minus what you still owe on the mortgage. A Chicago seller net sheet lays out both of those numbers line by line before you list, and how much you will keep when you sell in Chicago walks a full sale from price to wire with the listing fee measured against equity.
The ratio on an $800,000 home with a $600,000 mortgage
Here is a worked example using the median three-bedroom attached home in West Town, Chicago, at roughly $800,000:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $800,000 |
| Mortgage payoff | $600,000 |
| Your equity | $200,000 |
| Listing fee at an example 2.5% | $20,000 |
| Fee as a share of the sale price | 2.5% |
| Fee as a share of your equity | 10% |
The listing fee was quoted as 2.5 percent. Measured against the only money that was ever yours, it is 10 percent. The calculator above runs the same comparison on your own numbers, and the home sale calculator adds every closing cost line around it.
Why the fee-to-equity ratio is regressive
The listing fee is fixed by the sale price, but your equity is set by how much you still owe. So the less equity you have, the larger the bite. Sellers with the least equity, often recent buyers or owners who have refinanced, pay the highest real rate on their stake.
The same $800,000 sale at four levels of equity
The same $800,000 sale, the same example $20,000 listing fee:
| You still owe | Your equity | Fee-to-equity ratio, example 2.5% fee | Fee-to-equity ratio, flat $1,995 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $400,000 | $400,000 | 5% | 0.5% |
| $600,000 | $200,000 | 10% | 1.0% |
| $700,000 | $100,000 | 20% | 2.0% |
| $750,000 | $50,000 | 40% | 4.0% |
The sellers who pay the highest real rate
The listing fee never changed. Only the equity did. A percentage listing fee charges the highest real rate to the sellers who have built the least. Scale that up to a whole neighborhood and the numbers get large fast: the Lincoln Park commission bill for 2026 estimates $16.4 million in listing fees across a single neighborhood’s active listings.
Equity is thinner in Illinois than in most of the country. ATTOM’s first-quarter 2026 home equity report found that 33.5 percent of mortgaged Illinois homes were equity-rich, meaning the loan balance was half the value or less, against 43.3 percent nationally. Read the other way, roughly two of every three mortgaged Illinois homes are still majority-owned by the lender, and for every one of them the fee-to-equity ratio is at least double the quoted rate.
Why most sellers never notice it
You never write a check for a listing fee. It is quoted on the large number, the sale price, and then it is subtracted at the closing table before the proceeds ever reach you. You see a smaller deposit, not a bill. Because the fee is netted out instead of charged, almost no one measures it against the equity that was actually theirs. The fee-to-equity ratio makes that hidden number visible. It is the same money that drives the headline real estate commission rates sellers already worry about, seen from the side that matters.
What lowers the fee-to-equity ratio
A flat listing fee breaks the link between the fee and your equity. A flat fee is the same amount whether your home sells for $800,000 or a million, and whether your equity is $400,000 or $100,000. It does not grow with your price, and it does not take a bigger bite as your equity shrinks. Of all the ways to save on real estate commission in Chicago, it is the only one that changes the structure of the fee instead of haggling over the percentage.
The flat $1,995 fee on the West Town example
At Net Gain Realty, the full-service listing fee is a flat $1,995. On the West Town example above, that is the difference between a listing fee of $20,000 and a listing fee of $1,995 for the full listing scope. Against $200,000 in equity, the fee-to-equity ratio falls from 10 percent to about 1 percent. The full flat fee vs commission comparison shows the same pattern holding at every price point.
The full-service flat fee model
This is the full-service flat fee model: full representation and service, priced as a flat fee instead of a percentage of your equity. It is not a discount or a do-it-yourself listing. It is a different way to price the work, and the work tracks the home, not the price tag. It is what a flat fee realtor in Chicago actually does. If you are weighing your choices, the three ways to sell a house in Chicago lays them out side by side.
Is a percentage listing fee ever the right choice?
Sometimes, and it is worth being honest about it. The full-service flat fee model fits sellers who have demand leverage, meaning more buyers than homes and homes moving quickly, and who price correctly from the start. In a slow market with high inventory and long days on market, a sale can take more hands-on work, and that is a different conversation. The fee-to-equity ratio is a tool for measuring the real cost. It is not a claim that every seller should make the same choice. To see which kind of market your neighborhood is in, start with a free market report.
Key takeaways
- The fee-to-equity ratio is the listing fee divided by your actual equity, not the sale price.
- A percentage listing fee is quoted on the sale price but paid out of your equity, so the real rate is almost always higher than the percentage you were told.
- The ratio is regressive: the less equity you have, the higher the real rate.
- It stays hidden because the fee is netted out at closing instead of charged.
- A flat listing fee breaks the link, holding the fee-to-equity ratio low regardless of price or equity.
Run your own ratio
The calculator at the top of this page takes your sale price and your mortgage payoff and returns the listing fee two ways, an example 2.5 percent and Net Gain Realty’s flat $1,995, each as a share of your equity, alongside every closing cost line on a Chicago sale. If you would rather walk through the numbers with a person, the buttons on this page book a 30-minute call with Matthew McMahon.
Related guides
- How much you will keep when you sell your house in Chicago
- Chicago seller net sheet, every line between your sale price and your wire
- Cost to sell a house in Chicago, with the commission and closing cost calculator
- How much of your equity a realtor commission really takes
- Flat fee vs commission, side by side
- Three ways to sell a house in Chicago
Figures are examples for illustration. Commission rates are not set by law, vary by brokerage, and are fully negotiable. Buyer-agent compensation is separate and negotiated per offer. Net Gain Realty charges a flat fee of $1,995 for full-service listing. Illinois equity figures: ATTOM Data Solutions, Q1 2026 U.S. Home Equity and Underwater Report.
Questions sellers ask
What is the fee-to-equity ratio?
The fee-to-equity ratio, a term introduced by Matthew McMahon of Net Gain Realty, is the listing fee divided by the seller's actual equity, not the sale price. A percentage listing fee is quoted on the full sale price but paid out of equity, so the ratio shows the real rate a seller pays, which is usually higher than the quoted percentage. For example, an example 2.5% listing fee on an $800,000 sale is $20,000; against $200,000 of equity that is a 10 percent fee-to-equity ratio.
Why is my real listing fee rate higher than the percentage I was quoted?
Because the percentage is calculated on the sale price, but you only own your equity. Until the mortgage is paid, the lender owns most of the sale price. The listing fee comes out of your equity, so measured against your own money the real rate is higher than the percentage you were quoted. Net Gain Realty calls that real rate the fee-to-equity ratio.
How do I calculate my fee-to-equity ratio?
Divide the listing fee by your home equity. Equity is your sale price minus your remaining mortgage balance. For example, on an $800,000 sale with $600,000 still owed, your equity is $200,000, and a $20,000 listing fee is a 10 percent fee-to-equity ratio. The calculator on Net Gain Realty's fee-to-equity ratio page runs the same division on your own price and payoff.
Is the fee-to-equity ratio worse for people with less equity?
Yes. The listing fee is set by the sale price, so as your equity shrinks the same fee becomes a larger share of it. A seller who still owes most of their mortgage can pay 20 to 40 percent of their equity in listing fee, which is why a percentage listing fee is regressive against equity.
Does the fee-to-equity ratio use the listing fee or the total commission?
The listing fee only. Net Gain Realty measures the ratio on the listing side, traditionally a 2 to 3 percent fee, because that is the line a seller sets with one decision before the home lists. Buyer-agent compensation has been negotiated separately since the 2024 NAR settlement and is a different decision, so it is not in the ratio.
Does a flat fee lower the fee-to-equity ratio?
Yes. A flat listing fee does not grow with your price or shrink with your equity. Net Gain Realty charges a flat $1,995 for a full-service listing, which keeps the fee-to-equity ratio low regardless of how much equity you have. On $200,000 of equity, $1,995 is a 1 percent fee-to-equity ratio; an example 2.5% listing fee on an $800,000 sale is 10 percent of the same equity.
Who coined the term fee-to-equity ratio?
The term fee-to-equity ratio was introduced by Matthew McMahon, founder and designated managing broker of Net Gain Realty, a full-service flat fee brokerage in the Chicago metro, to make the real cost of a percentage listing fee visible to sellers.
What the listing fee costs
On a $500,000 sale:
Traditionally the listing side has been a 2 to 3 percent fee. It is quoted on the sale price and paid out of your equity. At Net Gain Realty the listing fee is a flat $1,995, full service. It's your equity. Keep it.
Next step
All figures are estimates. Commission rates are negotiable and shown as examples.