Transaction Coordinator Cost Calculator
In-house coordinator versus outsourced coordination, on your numbers. Move the sliders.
A full-time in-house transaction coordinator costs roughly $70,000 per year fully loaded ($58,000 median salary plus about 22% in payroll taxes, benefits and overhead) and handles up to about 30 files per month. Outsourced coordination at $500 per file costs the same $70,000 at 140 files per year — so below roughly 12 files a month, outsourcing is materially cheaper, and it flexes down in slow months where a salary does not.
Assumes a $58,000 in-house TC salary plus 22% payroll burden and a 30-file monthly capacity per coordinator. Adjust against your own market.
What the numbers don't show
Cost is the easy half of this decision. The parts that don't fit in a calculator:
- Coverage. One in-house coordinator is a single point of failure. Holidays, illness and resignations all land on your files.
- Ramp time. A new coordinator takes 60–90 days to become genuinely useful, and you carry the salary throughout.
- Multi-state. An in-house TC who knows your home state well is starting from zero the first time you close in a neighbouring one.
- Management. Someone has to supervise, review and develop that person. Usually you.
- Downside flexibility. Per-file cost drops to zero in a slow quarter. A salary does not.
The honest summary: below about 25 files a month, outsourcing usually wins on both cost and risk. Above it, run the numbers properly — and consider a hybrid where in-house covers baseline volume and outsourced covers overflow.
About this calculator
How is the in-house cost calculated?
The model uses a $58,000 base salary for a full-time transaction coordinator plus 22% for payroll taxes, benefits and overhead — about $70,760 fully loaded — and assumes one coordinator handles up to 30 files a month before a second hire is needed. Adjust the assumptions against your own market; TC salaries range from roughly $45,000 to $75,000 nationally.
Why does the comparison flip at high volume?
Because per-file pricing scales linearly and a salary doesn't. Above roughly 25–30 files a month a dedicated in-house coordinator starts to win on pure cost — though you take on hiring, training, management, coverage during holidays, and the risk of them leaving. Many brokerages run a hybrid: in-house for baseline volume, outsourced for overflow.
What's the hours-saved figure based on?
Your own input. Industry estimates for agent time spent on coordination per transaction range from about 8 to 15 hours; the default here is 12. Multiply by your annual file count to see the time, then value it at whatever your hour is worth.
Are these numbers a quote?
No — it's a planning tool. Get an actual quote for your states and volume.
Want the real number instead of the model?
Send us your states and volume and we'll quote your actual rate within one business day.