How Much Does It Cost to Sell a House in Brentwood?
If you've owned a home in Brentwood for a while, the number you're picturing when you think about selling is probably your sale price. The number that actually lands in your bank account is usually smaller — sometimes by a lot — and the gap between those two numbers is what this post is about.
Here's a realistic breakdown of what selling actually costs here on the Westside.
Agent Commission (the biggest line item)
This is typically the largest cost of selling, generally running in the 5% to 6% range of the sale price, split between the listing agent and buyer's agent. On a $2.9 million Brentwood home — right around our current 90049 median — that's roughly $145,000 to $174,000.
Commission is negotiable, and the right number depends on what's actually included: marketing spend, staging coordination, negotiation strategy, and how much hands-on work goes into getting your home ready. I'd rather walk you through exactly what you're getting than just quote a percentage.
Prepping the Home for Market
This varies enormously depending on your home's condition, but common pre-listing costs include:
Staging: $3,000–$10,000+ depending on home size and whether it's occupied or vacant
Deep cleaning & minor repairs: $1,000–$5,000
Photography, video, and marketing materials: often bundled into your agent's marketing plan, but budget $1,000–$3,000 if paying separately
Larger pre-listing updates (paint, flooring, landscaping): can range from a few thousand dollars to $50,000+ on an older home that needs real work
This is where a pre-listing walkthrough earns its keep — spending $8,000 in the right places can sometimes add well more than that to your final sale price. Spending it in the wrong places just delays your closing.
Escrow & Title Fees
Typically 0.5% to 1% of the sale price combined, covering the neutral third party that manages the transaction and the title insurance that protects the buyer's ownership. On a $2.9 million sale, expect somewhere around $15,000–$29,000.
Transfer Taxes — Where Brentwood Sellers Need to Pay Attention
This is the one that catches people off guard, because Los Angeles has more than one layer:
LA County documentary transfer tax: $1.10 per $1,000 of sale price (0.11%)
City of Los Angeles base transfer tax: 0.45%
Measure ULA ("mansion tax") — this is the big one for higher-value Brentwood sales. For 2026, it kicks in above $5.4 million at a rate of 4% on the entire sale price (not just the amount over the threshold), and jumps to 5.5% above $10.9 million.
For a typical Brentwood sale near the median, you're mostly looking at the base ~0.56% combined city/county rate. But if you're selling anywhere near or above $5.4 million, Measure ULA changes the math substantially, and it's worth running the numbers with your agent before you set a list price — sometimes pricing just under a threshold makes a real difference to your net.
Prorated Property Taxes
You'll owe your share of the year's property tax up through your closing date, prorated based on your county assessment. This isn't really a "cost" of selling so much as taxes you'd owe regardless — but it does come out of your proceeds at closing, so it's worth accounting for.
Putting It Together: A Rough Example
For a home selling at Brentwood's current median of roughly $2.9 million:
Cost | Estimated Range |
Agent commission (5–6%) | $145,000 – $174,000 |
Escrow & title (0.5–1%) | $14,500 – $29,000 |
Transfer taxes (city + county) | ~$16,240 |
Prep & staging | $5,000 – $25,000+ |
Estimated total | ~$180,000 – $245,000+ |
That puts total selling costs somewhere around 6% to 8.5% of sale price for a typical Brentwood home under the ULA threshold — before accounting for anything specific to your property's condition or any remaining mortgage payoff.
The Real Answer Is Personal
Every one of these numbers shifts based on your specific home, your price point relative to the ULA thresholds, and how much prep work your property actually needs. If you're starting to think about selling, the most useful next step isn't a general estimate like this one — it's a net sheet specific to your address, so you know exactly what you'd walk away with.
If that's where you are, I'm happy to put one together for you — no pressure, just real numbers.
Laurel Earhart, Realtor
Coldwell Banker Realty
424.299.0302
DRE: 01955592
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