How Much are Seller’s Closing Costs in Illinois?

As a seller, it’s possible to feel blindsided by the seller’s closing costs in Illinois. The fact that it isn’t always clear what exactly you’re paying for and that they come at the end of the sale can leave you feeling hard done by. In this blog, we are going to clear up that question for you.

How much are sellers’ closing costs in Illinois? The average seller closing cost in Illinois is $5,807 after taxes. This ranges between 1.94% and 2.9% of the final home sale price.

Given that an average home in Illinois sells for $200,000 to $300,000, the seller closing costs can fall between $3,871 and $8,710 depending on the county transfer taxes and other variables.

While closing on a home can be exciting to a seller, it can also be challenging and stressful if you aren’t well prepared. As a seller, especially in Illinois, it’s important to go to your closing prepared. This means that you have to know everything that’s included in closing costs for a seller and how much it will cost.

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Closing Costs in Illinois

If you’ve been wondering how much it would cost to sell your home in Illinois, you’ve come to the right place. Of course, you’re aware that some costs will go into selling your home. As such, it’s important to have a solid understanding of what you’re expected to pay to avoid getting blindsided by costs that arise down the road.

For those who aren’t aware of what closing costs are, these are fees that are associated with purchasing a property such as realtor commissions, filing fees, transfer taxes, title-related fees, and many others. These costs do vary depending on the value of the property, its location, type, and the type of loan involved. Closing costs may be incurred by the seller, the buyer or both depending on the agreement.

Illinois has one of the most expensive closing costs in the nation if you factor in everything including transfer taxes. Various factors and regulations make it one of the most challenging states as far as selling a home and closing costs are concerned. This is why you have to be well prepared when it comes to closing costs in Illinois.

Closing Costs Breakdown

As we’ve just noted, seller closing costs in Illinois can be quite tedious. It’s, therefore, important to break them down into categories, at least to give you a rough estimate of what you should expect to pay at closing, the things that you might owe after the home goes under contract, as well as any fee that’s associated with selling your home.

A typical seller closing cost in Illinois include:

State of Illinois Transfer Tax

This is a one-time tax that you pay to the state of Illinois on a change of ownership of a property. Even though state transfer taxes are customarily paid by the seller as part of the closing costs, you (the seller) can negotiate during the contract talks for the buyer to pay a part of the entire transfer taxes. In Chicago, both the buyer and the seller must pay a transfer tax.

Your state transfer tax is calculated based on a percentage of the sale price or the value of the real estate. In Illinois, the state transfer tax is $1 for every $1,000 of the sale price.

Here’s a perfect example. Say you sell your house for $300,000; the state of Illinois will expect you to pay a one-time transfer tax of $300. Here’s is a list of transfer taxes in the state of Illinois.

County/City Transfer Tax

Like state transfer tax, county transfer tax is a one-time payment paid to the county where the property is located. Country transfer taxes vary from area to area. For example, the transfer tax for DuPage County is $1 for every $1,000 of the sale price while the transfer tax for the city of Naperville, IL is $3 for every $1,000 of the sale price.

Going by our previous example of selling your home for $300,000, this means that you’ll have to pay a country transfer fee of $300. You’ll also pay a city transfer fee of $900. With this in mind, the total transfer tax for selling your house will total $1,500. To make it a lot easier for you, here’s a list of transfer tax rates for the state of Illinois including counties such as DuPage County and Cook County. The list also includes who is expected to cover the transfer taxes.

Title Fees

These are the fees that you incur to transfer ownership of your property. They include:

Title Insurance – As the seller, you’ll be required to pay for the insurance policy of your property. The cost is generally based on the sale price and may vary slightly from title insurance companies. You should expect to pay around $1,750 for a normal Illinois property and about $3,500 for properties costing up to $1 million.

Title Search Fees – This is paid by the buyer and is to ensure that the seller is the rightful owner of the property. The fee can cost between $275 and $475.

Update Fee – Costing about $200, this is to cover the period of the contract from the time the title commitment is issued to the closing. The idea here is that damage can occur to the property during this period and the amount should cover that.

Title Policy Registration Fee – This is a $30 fee that’s paid to the state of Illinois to keep track of all the documents of the contract.

Water and Zoning Fees – This is based on the type of home you’re selling. For example, you can expect to pay about $250 for a water and zoning certificate if you’re selling a single-family home. On the other hand, you can expect to pay about $150 if you’re selling a condo. The idea for water and zoning fees is to protect the buyer from incurring huge water bills after closing.

Attorney fees

This will vary from company to company and is meant to cover the services that the attorney offers to perform the title work and/or represent you. As a seller, you’ll typically pay a fee ranging between $500 and $700.

Mortgage Payoff (If Applicable)

Chances are this could be the largest closing cost to incur when selling a property. Needless to say, this will vary depending on the amount you owe on your mortgage. This has to include any interest accrued.

Realtor Commission

Other than the mortgage payoff, realtor commission is one of the largest closing costs that you can accrue when selling your home. As a contingency fee, you’ll only pay the realtor if the home closes and can cost you about 6% of the sale price. So if you sell your property for $300,000, the realtor will command about $18,000 but you can negotiate to reduce this.

Who Pays for Closing Costs in Illinois?

Typically, the buyer and the seller should share the burden of paying for closing costs if a home sale is successful. However, the two won’t pay for the same things and the buyer is likely to pay more than the seller.

The main closing costs for the seller include:

· Title insurance fees

· Mortgage payment (if applicable)

· Seller’s attorney fees

· Transfer taxes and recording fees

· Update fees

· Water and zoning fees

· Title policy registration fees

· Any liens that exist on the property

The main closing costs for the buyer include:

· Title search fees

· Appraisal fees

· Home inspection fees

· Survey fees (if applicable)

· Buyer’s attorney fee (if applicable)

· Credit report fees

· Settlement fees

Other Seller Expenses when Selling a Home

Even though every home sale is unique, there are always some additional seller costs that you have to be on the lookout for. While you may be required to pay some of them before closing, most of them will come when closing, so you need to be aware of them so that they do not get you by surprise. Some of these additional seller expenses include:

HOA dues – If you’re selling your home, you’re required to pay your HOA dues until the end of the closing date month.

Special Assessment – As a seller, you’re liable for any special assessment fee levied on your property by HOA before closing.

Miscellaneous Buyer Credit – There are instances where the house may need repair after inspection. However, you may agree with the buyer to offer credit instead of making the repairs for a higher price. If this is the case, you’ll be required to offer buyer credit at closing as agreed.

Other may include:

· FHA or VA charges

· Prepaid rent proration

How to Save on Seller Closing Costs

As a seller, it’s advantageous that the closing costs will come out of your home sale proceeds. This means that you do not have to come up with extra cash out of your pocket. But even with that, you can try a few ways to lower your closing costs and maximize your proceeds.

Ask the Realtor to Take a Lower Commission

If you’re working with an agent, you’ll probably be tasked with covering the entire realtor commission fees. You can either consider working with an agent who offers discounted services or try to negotiate with the agent to take a lower commission.

Negotiate for Better Prices and Terms

You can shop around for better rates on various services such as title insurance and attorney fees. You, however, have to consider that these fees are fairly consistent across the board, and finding better rates might be a long shot.

Negotiate for the Buyer to Pay

If you’re selling in an area where there’s fierce buying competition, you can negotiate with the buyer to pay a part of the entire closing costs.

Although closing costs take money out of your pocket, they can increase your capital gain tax on the sale and this can have a positive impact on your bottom line.

Conclusion

The Illinois housing market has been on the rise in the last couple of years. This means that it’s a great time to sell your house. But before jumping on this bandwagon, it’s important to understand inherent closing costs that you may be expected to pay down the line. By doing this, you won’t be blindsided or taken by surprise when these costs arise. If anything, you can come with better ways to negotiate for lower closing costs such as negotiating with the buyer to pay part of closing costs or pay them in their entirety.

And because the process of selling your home is tedious and challenging, you definitely need a realtor to help you make the process a lot simpler. As one of the best realtors in Chicago, you can contact us today and we’ll help you save not just money but also the hassles that come with selling a house.