How to Estimate Selling Costs on a House Flip in Ohio (Cuyahoga County Example)

By the ACC Solutions team

Short answer: selling costs are everything that comes off the sale price between accepting an offer and getting your wire: agent commission if you list, Ohio's conveyance fee (in Cuyahoga County, $4 per $1,000 of the price, paid by the seller), the property tax credit Ohio's pay-a-year-behind system creates, any city point-of-sale inspection and repairs, title and settlement charges, and the final interest on your loan. Estimate them before you buy, not after you list, because they come out of the same profit the rehab is supposed to create.

Written by the ACC Solutions team. County fees come from the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer's transfer procedures and the Transfer and Recording page, and the statute from Ohio Revised Code 322.02 and 319.54, read November 13, 2026. It's general information, not tax or legal advice. Every dollar figure in the example is made up to show the math. ACC Software, part of ACC Solutions, makes the A.I. Deal Assistant mentioned at the end.

Step 1: List the selling costs

• Agent commission, if you list with an agent. It's set in your listing agreement and is negotiable; get it in writing before you budget.

• Conveyance fee and transfer fee. Cuyahoga County's fee schedule is a $0.50 transfer fee plus a conveyance fee of $4.00 per $1,000 of the purchase price (minimum $4). ORC 322.02 says the county's tax "shall be levied upon the grantor named in the deed and shall be paid by the grantor," so on a sale it's the seller's cost. A DTE 100 conveyance form goes with the deed.

• Property tax credit. Ohio taxes are paid a year behind; the Treasurer's calendar says charges payable in 2026 are for tax year 2025. When you sell, taxes have usually built up that haven't been billed yet. Ask your title company how it will prorate them, because that credit to the buyer comes off your proceeds.

• City point-of-sale costs. Many Cuyahoga suburbs require an inspection before transfer. Brook Park's 2026 re-occupancy inspection is $60 for a one to three family home; University Heights' Point of Sale inspection is $250 for a single-family home. Add any repairs the report requires, or the escrow a buyer may want if they assume them.

• Title and settlement charges that your contract assigns to the seller. Your title company can give you a seller's estimate.

• Loan payoff interest through the payoff date, plus any payoff or release fees in your loan documents.

• Concessions you agree to, such as closing-cost credits or repair credits after the buyer's inspection.

• Final bills: utilities, water and sewer final reads, and lawn or snow service through closing.

Step 2: Run the example

A made-up Cuyahoga County flip selling for $180,000, listed with an agent at a made-up 5% commission:

The commission is the biggest line by far, and the conveyance fee is small but certain. The tax proration line is the one first-time flippers miss: because of the year-behind system, it can be a meaningful credit even when you've paid every bill that arrived.

Step 3: Put it in the deal before you buy

1. Start with a realistic ARV from recent comps.

2. Subtract selling costs as a dollar number from Step 2, not a rule-of-thumb percentage you haven't checked.

3. Subtract rehab, buying costs and holding costs (our guide to estimating flip holding costs walks through the monthly math).

4. What's left is your profit. If it doesn't hold up when you add a month or a lower sale price, adjust your offer.

The full formula is in the flip profit formula, and our free flip profit calculator does the arithmetic.

Ways sellers lower selling costs

• Order the point-of-sale inspection early, so required repairs are in the rehab scope instead of becoming a credit at closing.

• Get a seller's estimate from the title company before you set your list price.

• Negotiate the commission and any concessions in writing.

• Record documents correctly the first time. Cuyahoga County's recording fee is $39 for the first two pages and $8 for each page after. If you need a prepared document recorded, ACC's filing services charge $99 per prepared document; ACC doesn't draft deeds or give legal advice.

Common selling cost mistakes

• Leaving the tax proration out of the deal analysis.

• Forgetting the conveyance fee is the seller's.

• Assuming no point-of-sale rules apply. Check the city before you buy; rules differ from suburb to suburb, and some, like Brook Park's, also apply when tenants change.

• Counting the commission on the list price instead of the expected sale price.

Put selling costs next to the first read

The A.I. Deal Assistant gives you ARV from recent comps, a rehab estimate and projected flip profit from a property address or a Zillow or listing link. Our sales page doesn't itemize selling costs, so subtract your Step 2 total from the projected profit before you decide. For a Brook Park example of point-of-sale rules, see our Brook Park page. ACC works asynchronously, so out-of-town investors can reach us by email or the contact form from any time zone, and ACC is crypto friendly for buyers paying in Bitcoin or Ethereum.

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ACC Solutions team
Phone: (216) 238-5999 · Email: support@accmgmtsolutions.com · Contact form
6545 Market Ave N, Canton, OH 44721
We work asynchronously, so you can reach us by email or the contact form from any time zone; you don't need to catch us during Ohio business hours.