We Bought Last Year and Need to Sell in Indiana: Can We Break Even?
Quick answer: Often not yet, if you bought in Johnson County, Indiana in 2025 with a small down payment. The county's August 2026 median sale price was 6% below a year earlier, which does not price your house but signals little or no gain since 2025. Mark Dietel Realty runs your payoff, value and costs on a net sheet.
What we analyzed: the Indiana REALTORS Johnson County report for August 2026 (median sale price and its change from a year earlier), Freddie Mac's mortgage survey as of October 15, 2026, and Indiana's property tax rules from the Department of Local Government Finance.
Key takeaways
- Early in a mortgage, most of each payment is interest, so one year of payments barely moves the payoff.
- Break-even is a math problem with three inputs: written payoff, honest market value, and selling expenses. Get all three in writing.
- Indiana property taxes are paid in arrears, so at closing you credit the buyer for your time in the home; on a thin margin that line can decide break-even.
- Johnson County's August 2026 median sales price was $330,000, down 6% year over year (Indiana REALTORS Housing Data Hub).
- If the math comes up short, you have options besides writing a check: waiting, renting, or, for a true shortfall, a lender-approved sale.
Why is selling after one year so tight?
Because almost nothing you paid in year one went to the loan. A 30-year mortgage front-loads interest, so a full year of on-time payments knocks only a small dent in the balance, and the buying and selling expenses on both ends land on equity that has not had time to grow.
Here is what Johnson County's numbers mean for a 2025 buyer. The August 2026 median sale price was $330,000, down 6% from a year earlier, per the Indiana REALTORS Housing Data Hub. A county median does not price any one house, but it does mean a home bought in mid-2025 cannot count on having gained value. With Freddie Mac's survey putting the average 30-year fixed at 7.40% as of October 15, 2026, buyers are also careful with every dollar of asking price.
Indiana adds one more line that catches recent buyers off guard. Property taxes here are paid in arrears, so at closing you credit the buyer for taxes covering your time in the home, per the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. On a thin margin, that credit can be the line that decides break-even.
How do we find our break-even number?
Collect three documents: a written payoff statement from your lender, a comparative market analysis from a local agent, and a written seller net sheet that lists every selling expense line by line. Break-even is simply the sale price at which the net sheet's bottom line reads zero.
[Four steps to find your break-even number: get a written payoff statement, a comparative market analysis, a written seller net sheet, then run the net sheet at two or three sale prices.]
Break-even is the sale price where your written net sheet reads zero.
Break-even checklist
- Loan payoff (with per-diem interest): Your loan servicer, in writing, not the app balance.
- Likely sale price: A CMA built on recent comparable sales near you.
- Prorated property taxes: Indiana taxes are paid in arrears; the title company prorates to your closing date.
- Title work and other closing items: Itemized on your written net sheet.
- Your negotiated agent compensation: Enter yours; negotiable, not set by law.
- Repairs or buyer credits from inspection: Unknown until an offer, so keep a cushion.
- Moving and overlap housing: Your own budget; it belongs in the decision even though it is not on the closing statement.
What can move the number in our favor?
Preparation and pricing do the heavy lifting. A clean, well-photographed home priced with the comps gives buyers fewer reasons to push the price down, while pricing above the comps tends to cost time on the market.
Negotiation matters on the back end too: how you answer the buyer's inspection requests, whether you offer a credit instead of doing repairs, and how the closing date lines up with your tax proration all nudge the final line.
What if we can't break even?
Then you choose between time and cash. Waiting another year of payments lowers the payoff a little, though no one can promise what values will do in that time. Renting the house covers the payment while that happens, if a landlord's life fits yours. Bringing savings to closing ends it cleanly when the gap is small.
[Decision path for sellers who cannot break even: if the gap is small, bring savings to closing; if you can wait, keep paying; if renting covers the payment, rent; otherwise read the underwater options guide.]
Your options when the net sheet comes up short.
If the payoff is actually higher than the home's value, not just close, you are underwater, and that is a different conversation with more moving parts.
What does this look like in Central Indiana?
A hypothetical, for example only. A couple bought a Franklin, Indiana two-story in September 2025 for $300,000 with a low-down-payment loan. A job offer in Ohio means selling now. Their agent's CMA supports a likely sale price of $292,000 in the current Johnson County market. The lender's written payoff statement reads $288,000.
Hypothetical break-even figures
- Likely sale price (from the CMA): $292,000
- Loan payoff (written statement): $288,000
- Margin before selling expenses: $4,000
- Prorated property taxes: Varies by parcel and closing date
- Title work and other closing items: Listed line by line on the written net sheet
- Your negotiated agent compensation: Enter yours
A $4,000 margin will not carry every line below it, so this couple is likely bringing some money to closing unless careful prep and negotiation narrow the gap. That is why the net sheet should come before the listing agreement.
Talk through your situation privately
Tell us what's going on with the house. We'll show you the options that fit and what each one would net you.
When this doesn't apply
If you bought before 2022, you likely have real equity and a routine sale, and a net sheet will confirm it. If your payoff clearly exceeds your value, start with the underwater guide instead; if payments have slipped, read the foreclosure timeline post first. This post is for owner-occupants who did not plan to move this soon, not investors flipping on purpose.
What to do next
Request a written payoff statement from your servicer this week. Then ask us for a home-value review and a written net sheet at two or three price points, so you know your break-even number before you commit to anything.
Talk through your situation privately
Tell us what's going on with the house. We'll show you the options that fit and what each one would net you.
Prefer to talk? Call (317) 426-9911. Mark Dietel Realty has offices in Southside Indianapolis, Greenwood and Bloomington.
FAQ
Do we owe extra tax for selling within a year or two of buying?
Selling fast does not trigger a penalty tax. Capital gains tax only applies to a gain, and most owners in this spot have little or none. A loss on your own home is generally not deductible either. Rules shift year to year, so run your numbers past a CPA before closing.
Can we rent this house out and still buy our next one?
Often, yes. Lenders have rules for counting the old payment and any rental income when they qualify you for the next loan, and those rules depend on the loan program. Talk to your lender before signing a lease so the rental helps your application instead of blocking it.
Would selling it ourselves get us to break even?
Selling without an agent removes some services, not most of the ledger. The payoff, taxes, and title work do not change, and FSBO homes still have to be priced, marketed, and negotiated. We would rather show you both versions of the math honestly and let you decide.
Should we take a cash offer instead and skip the prep work?
A cash offer trades convenience for price, and on thin equity that trade can push you from break-even to bringing money. It fits some sellers well. Compare the structures side by side in our cash offer versus listing guide before you sign anything.
Is it smarter to wait for spring to list?
It depends on your situation. Waiting adds more payments, which lower your payoff slightly, but no one can promise where prices will be by then. If the move cannot wait, the price and the prep matter more than the season.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your situation with a closing attorney, CPA or lender. Mark Dietel Realty, offices in Indianapolis (Southside), Greenwood and Bloomington, Indiana.
