From the video
The downsize tally
You came from the video How Much of a $150,000 Downsize Do You Actually Keep? This is the Downsize Tally worksheet that goes with it: the six-line tally, the tax check and the stay ledger. You write in your sale price and what you'd pay for the smaller place, and your closing-day number comes out at the bottom. Free.
Get the free Retirement Money Blueprint, plus the Downsize Tally worksheet
Two prices in, one number out: what actually lands in your account. It also has tally two, the tax check, the stay ledger, the four rungs and the five-item checklist from the video, on one page you can take to any agent before you sign. The Retirement Money Blueprint and its workbook come with it.
Downsize Tally worksheet (Excel)
The same worksheet as a PDF, to print
Your tally
The boxes start with the video's example: sell a paid-off house for $450,000, buy a smaller one for $300,000 in cash. Change any box and every number below updates.
| Price gap (sale minus smaller home) | |
| 1. Commission | |
| 2. Seller closing costs | |
| 3. Buyer closing costs | |
| 4. The move, all in | |
| Tally one, closing day (lines 1 to 4) | |
| 5. Getting the house ready | |
| 6. Concession to the buyer | |
| Tally two, the full toll (lines 1 to 6) | |
| You keep after tally two |
The tax check
The price gap isn't your gain. Your gain is what you sold for, minus your selling costs, minus what you have in the house, improvements included.
| Your basis (price plus improvements) | |
| Your sale counts as (price minus lines 1 and 2) | |
| Your gain | |
| Home sale exclusion | |
| Gain above the exclusion |
The exclusion needs two of the last five years owned and lived in. The limits haven't moved since 1997. A widow or widower who sells within two years of the spouse's death can still use the $500,000 limit if the other tests are met. For Medicare's IRMAA, which looks back two years, only the taxable part of a gain counts; in 2026 there is no surcharge up to $109,000 of income single, $218,000 married. Your state may tax a gain too.
The stay ledger
What each house costs you every year. The new home's tax and insurance scale with its price unless you type your own.
| Each year | Stay | Go |
|---|---|---|
| Property tax | ||
| Insurance | ||
| Upkeep | ||
| HOA | ||
| Total a year |
The video's example
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| 1. Commission at 5.5% of $450,000 | $24,750 |
| 2. Seller closing costs at 1.5% | $6,750 |
| 3. Buyer closing costs paying cash, estimated at 1% (financed, about 2%: $6,000) | $3,000 |
| 4. The move, all in | $5,000 |
| Tally one: $39,500. Kept on closing day, of the $150,000 gap | $110,500 |
| 5. Getting the house ready (2022 average) | $5,400 |
| 6. Concession, assumed at 1% | $4,500 |
| Tally two: $49,400, about 11% of the price. Kept | $100,600 |
| Break-even: if the smaller home costs more than about this, you keep nothing | $409,000 |
| Gain: $418,500 net sale minus $220,000 basis | $198,500 |
| Federal tax on it, single or married (owned and lived in 2 of 5 years) | $0 |
| Stay: $4,050 tax + $2,948 insurance + $4,500 upkeep | $11,498 a year |
| Go: $2,700 tax + $1,965 insurance + $3,000 upkeep + $2,208 HOA | $9,873 a year |
| Moving saves, at 1% repairs on the old house (at 2%: $6,125) | $1,625 a year |
| Added up over ten years, in today's dollars | $16,250 to $61,250 |
The whole case turns on what the old house needs next, not on the price gap. An HOA at $500 a month would eat the $100,600 in under 17 years.
Four rungs to keep more
Every rung keeps money. Pick the one you'll actually climb.
| Rung | What you do | Keeps, on the video's house |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Line up both closings, so you never carry two houses at once. If the dates won't line up, ask about a rent back. | about $583 a month |
| 2 | Pay cash for the smaller place, if you can. | line 3 stays $3,000, not $6,000 |
| 3 | Negotiate the commission before you sign the listing. | half a percent = $2,250 |
| 4 | Skip the prep, only if both net sheets say your price holds without it. | $5,400 |
In that order (net sheets first, then the commission in writing, then a cash purchase and your dates), the toll on the video's house drops from $49,400 to $41,750, and you keep $108,250 instead of $100,600: $7,650 more. If your sign is already in the yard, your closing date and any concession are still settled when the offer comes in.
Your Downsize Tally worksheet
Filled in from the calculator above. Print it and take it to any agent before you sign a thing.
| Sale price | |
| Price of the smaller home | |
| Price gap | |
| 1. Commission () | |
| 2. Seller closing costs () | |
| 3. Buyer closing costs () | |
| 4. The move, all in | |
| Kept on closing day | |
| 5. Getting the house ready | |
| 6. Concession () | |
| Kept after tally two | |
| Stay ledger: old house a year / new home a year | |
| Gain above the home sale exclusion |
Quick check from the video's homework: your likely sale price × 7%, plus 1% of what you'd pay, plus $5,000 for the move. Take that out of your price gap. Write your property tax total beside it.
| Sale price × 7% | |
| + 1% of the smaller home's price | |
| + $5,000 for the move | |
| Price gap minus the total = closing-day number | |
| Property tax total |
The five-item checklist
- Two seller's net sheets from two agents, with the commission on its own line. Ask: “What's my net, after everything?”
- The title company. Ask: “What are my closing costs if I pay cash, and what are they if I finance?”
- A written moving estimate, all in, on one page.
- Your basis file: the old closing statement and every improvement receipt, in one folder.
- If the new place has an HOA, ask for the reserve study, and ask: “When was the last special assessment?”
Commission: agent surveys, 2026. Seller closing costs: Redfin. Buyer closing costs for a cash purchase are an estimate. Prep: a 2022 average. The concession percentage is an assumption. Tax: IRC Section 121, IRS Publication 523. Ledger: ATTOM effective tax rate, Insurify 2025 average premium, Fannie Mae upkeep rule of thumb, Census HOA median. Costs and rules vary by state; confirm your basis and your state's rules with your county records or a tax professional. Education, not financial advice.
When staying put wins
If your house is sound, your taxes are low and the stairs are the only real problem, a stair lift or a first-floor bedroom fixes that with no toll at all. If the smaller home sits near your break-even, or carries a big HOA with thin reserves, the ledger says stay. And sometimes moving wins anyway, for reasons money can't count: one level, close to family, near doctors you trust.
More from the channel
All the channel's videos and worksheets Mortgage Payoff Calculator Exemption or Lid worksheet House to Care Months worksheet