Sale Proceeds Calculator

How to use this calculator

1. Expected sale price. What you think it will fetch, not what you would like. If you are working from a valuation, use the valuation.
2. Outstanding loan balance. From your latest statement. It is the redemption figure that matters, and it falls every month you keep paying.
3. CPF used, principal plus accrued interest. Both numbers are on your CPF statement. Enter the total. This is the field people get wrong, and the answer is almost always larger than they remember.
4. Agent commission rate. 2% is typical on a resale. GST is charged on top of whatever rate you agree.

The result updates as you type.

The CPF refund is not a cost

The largest deduction on most Singapore sales is not a cost at all, and treating it as one is the most common mistake sellers make.

What has to go back. Every dollar of CPF you withdrew for the purchase, plus the interest that money would have earned had it stayed in your Ordinary Account. That interest accrues the whole time you own the property, which is why a long hold produces a refund that looks nothing like the sum you remember taking out.

Where it goes. Into your Ordinary Account, not your bank account. You can use it towards your next property. If you are over 55 there are rules about how much you can take out in cash, and they are worth checking before you commit to a purchase.

Why it feels like a loss. Because your bank balance after the sale is smaller than the equity you thought you had. The money is not gone. It is in a different pocket, and one you cannot spend on a holiday.

How we calculate it

proceeds = price − loan − CPF refund − commission − GST − legal

The chart totals the sale price rather than the proceeds, because that is the number sellers hold in their heads. Seeing how little of it ends up in the bank account is the whole reason it is there.

Run a few what-ifs

The number on its own tells you less than the gaps between numbers.

Drop the commission by a point. On a S$700,000 sale that is S$7,630 with the GST — real money, and the negotiation everybody has. Worth having, and worth knowing what it is actually worth before you spend goodwill on it.

Raise the price by five percent. S$34,237 on the same sale, or four and a half times what the commission point was worth. Nothing about the CPF refund or the loan changes, so almost the entire increase lands in your account.

Pay down the loan first. It makes no difference to your proceeds at all. Every dollar you pay off before the sale is a dollar you do not receive at it — the loan comes off the top either way. Useful to know before you empty your savings into an early repayment.

Sell later. The loan balance falls and the CPF accrued interest rises, and the two partly cancel. What actually moves your proceeds over time is the price.

What this calculator leaves out

Three real costs sit outside this calculation, and none of them is a formula.

Seller's Stamp Duty. Payable if you sell within three years of buying, on a sliding scale by holding period. If that is you, the figure above is too high.

Apportionments at completion. Property tax and maintenance are split between you and the buyer by date. Small, but they are settled out of your proceeds.

What happens next. If you are selling in order to buy, the order you do it in decides whether you pay ABSD and whether you need bridging finance. Thestamp duty calculator prices that decision; this one only tells you what you are working with.

Questions people ask

Why is the CPF refund so large?

Because it includes accrued interest — what your CPF would have earned had you never taken it out. On a property held ten years or more the interest can approach the principal itself. Your CPF statement shows both figures, and the total is the one to enter.

Do I get the CPF refund in cash?

No. It goes back into your Ordinary Account, where you can use it towards your next property. Whether any of it can be withdrawn in cash depends on your age and on your Retirement Account, and that is worth checking before you commit to a purchase.

Is GST really charged on the commission?

Yes. A property agency is a GST-registered supplier of a taxable service, so 9% is added to the commission you agreed. It appears as a line on the invoice, and it is a line most sellers have not budgeted for.

What if the sale does not cover my loan?

Then you bring the shortfall in cash on completion, and the calculator shows the result as a negative figure. This is worth finding out early, because it changes whether you should be selling at all.

Does this include Seller’s Stamp Duty?

No. SSD applies if you sell within three years of buying, on a sliding scale by holding period. If that is you, the figure here is too high, and the gap is significant enough to change your plans.

Should I sell before I buy, or buy before I sell?

A different and much bigger question. It turns on ABSD, on whether you can raise bridging finance, and on your tolerance for moving twice. This calculator gives you one input to that decision, not the answer to it.