Commission, marketing, conveyancing and the line items Cairns sellers forget, with realistic numbers for an $800K sale and where the savings actually sit.
Start with the numbers that actually leave your account
Selling a home in Cairns in 2026 is a five-figure exercise for almost everyone, and the individual costs arrive at different times: some before the campaign starts, some only at settlement. There is never one moment where the total sits in front of you in a single row, which is exactly why sellers underestimate it.
This guide lines the costs up. Conservative range, realistic range, and the levers that actually move the number.
Agent commission
Traditional Cairns agents typically sit between 2.5% and 3% commission, and it is worth knowing that Far North Queensland rates often run higher than the southern capitals, not lower. On a $650,000 home that is $16,250 to $19,500; on an $800,000 home, $20,000 to $24,000; on a $1.2M Palm Cove or Port Douglas property, $30,000 to $36,000.
Commission is paid at settlement and usually deducted from the proceeds by your conveyancer, so the number never quite feels real while you are planning. It should. It is usually the single largest cost on the page.
The One Club charges 1%. On the same $800,000 home that is $8,000. Same portals, same photography, same negotiation at the finish.
Marketing package
With most agencies, marketing is billed separately from commission. A typical Cairns mid-tier campaign runs $3,000 to $6,000; premium campaigns with drone, twilight photography and stronger portal placement run $6,000 to $12,000. Most of that is spent in the first fortnight, and if the property sits you may be asked to fund a second round.
With The One Club, photography, floor plans, an interactive 3D walkthrough captured in-house, digital remarketing and the campaign itself all sit inside the 1%. The only separate marketing line is your chosen realestate.com.au and Domain listing tier.
Conveyancing
A Queensland conveyancer or solicitor typically charges $1,000 to $2,500 for a standard residential sale, with body corporate, off-the-plan or trust structures pushing it higher. Pay for this properly: contract mistakes cost far more than the saving from the cheapest quote.
Bank fees and adjustments
Most lenders charge a discharge fee of $350 to $600, plus break costs if you are mid-fixed-term. Prepaid council rates, water and body corporate are adjusted at settlement in whichever direction applies. Title and transfer fees on the sale side are minor, usually a few hundred dollars.
Building, pest and the tropics
Cairns buyers are rightly thorough about building and pest, and a surprise finding mid-contract is the most common reason FNQ deals wobble. A pre-listing pest inspection costs $300 to $600 and is some of the best money a Cairns seller can spend: you find the issue before the buyer does, fix it on your timeline, and negotiate from strength.
Preparation: the wet-season factor
Presentation money goes further in Cairns than almost anywhere, because the tropics are hard on a house between owners' weekends. Budget $1,500 to $4,000 for a pressure clean of paths, driveway and roof line, mould treatment where the wet has left its mark, garden recovery, and a deep interior clean. Full styling for a premium property adds $2,000 to $8,000 and reliably returns more than it costs.
What rarely pays back: last-minute kitchen and bathroom renovations. Presentation and photography do more, faster, for less.
A realistic worked example
Consider an $800,000 Trinity Beach family home going to market in the 2026 dry season. Traditional path: 2.5% commission ($20,000) + $5,000 marketing + $1,800 conveyancing + $500 discharge + $3,000 preparation = $30,300.
The One Club path: 1% commission ($8,000) including the campaign and interactive 3D walkthrough + $1,200 portal tier + $1,800 conveyancing + $500 discharge + $3,000 preparation = $14,500.
Same campaign quality, same negotiation. A saving of roughly $15,800 on a very ordinary Cairns sale, and the gap only widens as the price rises.
What moves the number most
Three levers matter more than everything else combined: the commission percentage you agree to, the marketing model (bundled or billed on top), and whether your campaign sells in its first cycle or needs a second round of spend. Fix the first two before you list and the third mostly takes care of itself.