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The Full Cost of Selling Your Home in Brisbane: What to Budget For

A complete breakdown of what it costs to sell a home in Brisbane's inner east. Agent commission, marketing, conveyancing, styling, repairs, and what is actually negotiable.

One of the things sellers often underestimate is the total cost of getting a property to market and through to settlement. The headline number people think about is agent commission, but there are several other costs that add up, and knowing what to expect in advance helps you plan your finances and avoid surprises at settlement.

The figures below are based on what sellers typically spend on inner-east Brisbane properties in the $800,000 to $1.8 million range. Your specific costs will vary depending on your property, your choices, and how well-prepared it is before you go to market.

Agent commission

Commission is typically the largest single cost of selling. In Queensland, real estate agent commission is negotiable and not subject to a legislated cap. For Brisbane inner-east properties, the typical range is 2.0% to 2.75% of the sale price, inclusive of GST. On a $1.2 million sale, that is $24,000 to $33,000.

Commission rates vary between agents and agencies. A lower rate is not automatically a better deal. What matters is the net result: the sale price achieved minus all costs. An agent who charges 2.5% but consistently achieves sale prices 3% to 5% above comparable listings will cost you less in net terms than one who charges 2% and underperforms on price.

When comparing agents, ask about their average sale price relative to asking price on comparable properties, their days on market, and what specifically they will do to generate competition around your property. Commission is a lever, but it is not the most important one.

Marketing costs

Marketing costs cover the package of advertising, photography, and promotional activity used to take your property to market. This is typically a separate charge from commission and is usually paid regardless of whether the property sells.

A standard marketing package for a Brisbane inner-east property typically includes professional photography and video, a listing on realestate.com.au and domain.com.au at a featured or premiere tier, a property sign board, and printed materials. Depending on the agency and tier of listing chosen, a standard package ranges from approximately $2,500 to $5,500.

Premium marketing, which might include a social media campaign, 3D floor plan, twilight photography, and a higher-tier realestate.com.au listing position, adds to that figure. For properties at the upper end of the inner-east market, a full premium marketing package can cost $6,000 to $10,000. Whether the premium spend is worthwhile depends on the property. For a well-presented home in a highly searched suburb, the additional buyer reach from a premiere listing can be significant. For a property in a suburb with strong organic demand, a standard package may be sufficient.

Conveyancing and legal costs

You will need a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to prepare the contract for sale, deal with the buyer's legal representatives, and handle the settlement process. Solicitor fees for a standard residential sale in Queensland typically range from $1,200 to $2,200, depending on the complexity of the transaction and the firm engaged.

Some transactions involve additional legal work. If your property has an easement, a body corporate interest, or any title issue that needs to be resolved before sale, expect fees to be higher. If you are selling as part of an estate or trust, the legal work is typically more involved and will cost correspondingly more. Budget at least $1,500 and get a quote upfront from your solicitor before signing with them.

Pre-sale presentation: styling and repairs

What you spend on presentation before going to market is largely a choice, but it is a choice with meaningful financial consequences. Properties that are properly prepared consistently achieve higher prices and sell faster than comparable properties that are presented without attention to presentation.

Professional home staging, where a stylist replaces or supplements your furniture and decor with pieces selected to appeal to the target buyer, typically costs $2,500 to $6,000 for a full house, depending on the size of the property and how much of the existing furniture is retained. Partial styling, where a stylist brings in accent pieces, art, and styling accessories without replacing major furniture, is less expensive and often sufficient for properties that are already well-furnished.

Pre-sale repairs and maintenance are the other significant presentation cost. Fresh paint in neutral tones, addressing worn carpets, fixing visible maintenance issues like leaky taps or cracked tiles, and ensuring the garden is tidy all contribute to buyer confidence and reduce the ammunition buyers use to negotiate price reductions. A buyer who walks through a property and identifies five maintenance issues will use each of them as use. Spending $3,000 to $5,000 addressing visible issues before launch can protect far more than that in negotiations.

It is worth being selective about what you fix. Your agent should be able to tell you, based on what buyer feedback looks like on comparable properties, which items are likely to affect your price and which are unlikely to matter. Not every maintenance item warrants pre-sale attention. Spending $15,000 on a bathroom renovation before selling, for example, rarely returns dollar for dollar unless the bathroom is in genuinely poor condition relative to the suburb standard.

Pool safety and smoke alarm certificates

In Queensland, sellers are required to provide a current pool safety certificate if the property has a pool and a current smoke alarm compliance certificate before settlement. If either certificate is not current, you will need to arrange an inspection and any required upgrades to obtain one.

A pool safety inspection costs approximately $150 to $250. If the pool barrier requires rectification work to meet current standards, that cost is separate and depends on what work is needed. A smoke alarm compliance inspection and any required upgrades typically costs between $150 and $400. These are non-negotiable costs for properties that require them and should be factored into your pre-sale budget.

Moving costs

Removalist costs are easy to overlook when budgeting for a sale but can be a meaningful expense. A local move within Brisbane's inner east for a three to four bedroom home, using a professional removalist, typically costs $1,500 to $3,500 depending on the size of the home, the distance involved, and whether you use packing services. If you are moving interstate or into storage, costs are substantially higher.

What a typical total looks like

For a well-prepared inner-east Brisbane property selling at around $1.2 million, a realistic total cost of sale might look like this: agent commission at 2.2% adds approximately $26,400; a solid marketing package around $4,000; conveyancing at $1,600; styling and pre-sale presentation around $4,500; compliance certificates approximately $500; and a local move at $2,500. That comes to approximately $39,500 in total selling costs, or around 3.3% of the sale price.

The range for comparable properties is wide. A seller who negotiates a lower commission rate, does minimal preparation, and uses a mid-tier marketing package might spend closer to $25,000. A seller who uses a premium stylist, undertakes significant pre-sale work, and opts for a premium marketing campaign might spend $55,000 or more. Neither approach is inherently right or wrong. The decision should be guided by what the comparable sale data suggests about presentation premiums in your specific suburb and property type, not by a general preference for spending more or less.

What is negotiable

Commission and marketing costs are negotiable. The extent to which they move depends on the agent, the current market, and the specifics of your property. An agent who is highly confident about the sale prospects of a well-located, well-presented property may have more flexibility on rate than one taking on a more challenging listing.

What is genuinely not negotiable are the Queensland compliance requirements (pool safety and smoke alarm certificates), your conveyancing costs, and the physical costs of moving. These are what they are. Budget for them from the start and they will not surprise you at settlement.