Seller Closing Costs in Illinois: What a Seller Actually Pays in 2026
Last updated July 28, 2026. Written by Matthew McMahon, Managing Broker, Net Gain Realty, a licensed Illinois brokerage.
Seller closing costs in Illinois run about 1% to 1.5% of the sale price before commission, and the commission is a flat $1,995 at Net Gain Realty, a full-service flat-fee brokerage, instead of a traditional 2-3% listing fee.
On the $345,000 statewide median sale price Illinois REALTORS reported for June 2026, that works out to roughly $3,900 in closing costs, or about 1.1% of the sale price. The listing fee sits on top of that as its own separate line.
All figures on this page are estimates for informational purposes. Commission rates are not set by law, vary by brokerage, and are fully negotiable. Transfer taxes, title premiums, attorney fees, and recording fees are approximate and vary by transaction and by municipality. Net Gain Realty makes no guarantees regarding sale price, net proceeds, or savings. Consult a licensed attorney before making real estate decisions.
How Much Are Seller Closing Costs in Illinois?
Here is the whole stack on the statewide median sale price, line by line, before any commission.
| Cost line | Approximate amount on a $345,000 sale | Who sets it |
|---|---|---|
| State transfer tax (50 cents per $500, ~0.1%) | ~$345 | Illinois statute, 35 ILCS 200/31-10 |
| County transfer tax (25 cents per $500, ~0.05%) | ~$173 | County board, per 55 ILCS 5/5-1031 |
| Owner’s title insurance policy | ~$2,450 | Underwriter rate card |
| Attorney fee | $500 to $1,000 | Your attorney |
| Recording and miscellaneous fees | $110 to $250 | County recorder |
| Approximate total, before commission | ~$3,600 to $4,200 (about 1.0% to 1.2%) |
Sellers inside Chicago city limits add one more layer, the CTA portion of the city transfer tax at $1.50 per $500, about 0.3% of the sale price, or roughly $1,035 more at this price. That moves the stack to about $4,600 to $5,300, or 1.3% to 1.5%.
A transfer tax is a government fee charged when a property changes hands. An owner’s title insurance policy is the policy protecting the buyer’s ownership against problems in the chain of title, and in Illinois the seller customarily pays for it. Illinois is an attorney-close state, meaning a licensed attorney rather than a title company handles the closing, which is why the attorney line is on every Illinois seller’s sheet and not on sheets in most other states.
Illinois Transfer Taxes: The Three Layers, and Who Pays Each
The state layer is not an estimate. It is written into statute. 35 ILCS 200/31-10 reads:
“A tax is imposed on the privilege of transferring title to real estate located in Illinois … at the rate of 50¢ for each $500 of value or fraction of $500 stated in the declaration required by Section 31-25.”
Illinois Compiled Statutes, 35 ILCS 200/31-10 (Property Tax Code, Real Estate Transfer Tax Law)
Counties may add a layer of their own at 25 cents per $500 under 55 ILCS 5/5-1031, and Cook and most Illinois counties do. Municipalities may add a third.
| Layer | Rate | Where it applies | On a $345,000 sale | Who customarily pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State of Illinois | $0.50 per $500 (~0.1%) | Every sale statewide | ~$345 | Seller |
| County | $0.25 per $500 (~0.05%) | Cook and most counties | ~$173 | Seller |
| Municipal, CTA portion inside Chicago city limits | $1.50 per $500 (~0.3%) | Chicago city limits only | ~$1,035 | Seller |
| Municipal, city portion inside Chicago city limits | $3.75 per $500 (~0.75%) | Chicago city limits only | ~$2,588 | Buyer |
Two things worth knowing. First, on why the seller pays the state and county layers, Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund puts it plainly: “Because a seller needs to deliver a recordable deed to the buyer, the seller typically pays the state and county transfer taxes.” Second, some home-rule municipalities, meaning municipalities with their own taxing power, charge a municipal transfer tax of their own. Most Illinois municipalities do not. Confirm your village’s rate with your attorney before you budget.
Rates are set by law, are subject to change, and do not change with your broker choice.
Seller Closing Costs in Illinois at Three Price Points
Costs do not scale evenly. Transfer taxes are a straight percentage, but the title premium moves in $20 steps per $10,000 of price and attorney and recording fees barely move at all. That is why the closing-cost percentage falls as the price rises.
Outside Chicago city limits (state and county transfer taxes only):
| Sale price | Transfer taxes | Owner’s title policy | Attorney + recording | Approximate total | Percent of sale price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | ~$375 | ~$2,250 | $610 to $1,250 | ~$3,200 to $3,900 | ~1.3% to 1.6% |
| $345,000 (statewide median) | ~$518 | ~$2,450 | $610 to $1,250 | ~$3,600 to $4,200 | ~1.0% to 1.2% |
| $500,000 | ~$750 | ~$2,750 | $610 to $1,250 | ~$4,100 to $4,800 | ~0.8% to 1.0% |
Inside Chicago city limits, add the CTA portion at about 0.3% of the sale price: roughly $750 more at $250,000, $1,035 at $345,000, and $1,500 at $500,000.
Buyer-agent compensation, if the seller agrees to contribute any, is negotiated separately since the 2024 NAR settlement and is not part of the closing-cost stack above.
Why Some Lists Say Illinois Seller Closing Costs Are 6% to 9%
Published lists often put Illinois seller closing costs at 6% to 9% of the sale price. Those figures fold a traditional commission into the closing-cost line. I believe sellers see their own numbers more clearly when the two are kept apart, because they behave in opposite ways.
Closing costs, meaning transfer taxes, the title premium, attorney fees, and recording fees, are mostly fixed. They come off a statute, a county ordinance, or a published rate card. Nothing a seller does moves them by more than a few hundred dollars.
The commission is the opposite. It has never been set by law, it is fully negotiable, and it is the largest single dollar decision on the sheet.
The One Line an Illinois Seller Can Move: The Listing Fee
At the statewide median sale price, a traditional listing fee is roughly twice the entire closing-cost stack it sits on top of.
| Sale price | Approximate closing costs (fixed) | Traditional example 2-3% listing fee | Net Gain Realty flat listing fee | Estimated difference on the listing line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | ~$3,200 to $3,900 | $5,000 to $7,500 | $1,995 | ~$3,000 to $5,500 |
| $345,000 | ~$3,600 to $4,200 | $6,900 to $10,350 | $1,995 | ~$4,900 to $8,355 |
| $500,000 | ~$4,100 to $4,800 | $10,000 to $15,000 | $1,995 | ~$8,000 to $13,005 |
Commission rates shown are examples for comparison. Rates are not set by law, vary by brokerage, and are fully negotiable. Estimated differences depend on the rate you negotiate.
Net Gain Realty is a full-service flat-fee brokerage serving the Chicago metro. The $1,995 covers the full listing scope: MLS listing on MRED, syndication to Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com, professional photography, a 90-day band-level pricing analysis, showing coordination, offer negotiation, and support through closing. The fee is calculated differently. The listing work is not reduced.
There is a second way to read that listing line, which is the ratio of the fee to the equity it comes out of. The fee is quoted against the sale price, but it is paid out of what you have actually built, so the real rate runs well above the headline percentage. That math is on the fee-to-equity ratio page.
To run your own address instead of these three price points, the home sale calculator breaks out every line, and the seller net sheet guide walks through the sheet your attorney will hand you at closing. For where the listing fee itself sits in the market, see the Illinois commission rates guide.
Methodology and Sources
Every number on this page comes from a named source, dated July 2026.
- Statewide median sale price, $345,000: Illinois REALTORS, Illinois Housing Market report for June 2026, published July 23, 2026. Closed-sale median from Multiple Listing Service data reported by 18 Illinois REALTOR local boards including Midwest Real Estate Data, as of July 7, 2026. A closed-sale median is not the same measurement as a home-value index such as Zillow’s ZHVI, and the two should not be swapped in a cost calculation.
- State transfer tax, $0.50 per $500: 35 ILCS 200/31-10, Illinois General Assembly.
- County transfer tax, $0.25 per $500: 55 ILCS 5/5-1031, Illinois General Assembly.
- Chicago CTA portion, $1.50 per $500, seller’s obligation: Chicago Code of Ordinances Sec. 3-33-040(F). City portion of $3.75 per $500, buyer’s obligation: Sec. 3-33-030(C).
- Who pays state and county transfer taxes: Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund, “Transfer Taxes in Illinois.”
- Owner’s title insurance premiums: Chicago Title Insurance Company, 2025 Illinois Metro Counties Schedule of Rates (Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Will). Rates differ by underwriter and by county; downstate schedules are not covered by this card.
- Attorney fees, $500 to $1,000: observed range on Illinois residential closings. This is a market range, not a published schedule.
- Recording fees, $110 to $250: Cook County Clerk, Recordings Division published fee schedule, which charges $107 to record a standard document such as a deed or a release of mortgage. The range covers one to two standard documents. Every county sets its own schedule, so confirm yours.
Rates and figures are subject to change. Verify current numbers with your attorney and your title company before you rely on them.
FAQs: Seller Closing Costs in Illinois
How much are seller closing costs in Illinois?
Seller closing costs in Illinois run about 1% to 1.5% of the sale price before commission, and the commission is a flat $1,995 at Net Gain Realty, a full-service flat-fee brokerage, instead of a traditional 2-3% listing fee. On the $345,000 statewide median sale price Illinois REALTORS reported for June 2026, that is roughly $3,900: about $518 in state and county transfer taxes, about $2,450 for the owner’s title insurance policy, $500 to $1,000 in attorney fees, and $110 to $250 in recording and miscellaneous fees. Sellers inside Chicago city limits add the CTA portion of the city transfer tax, about 0.3% of the sale price, which brings the stack closer to 1.4%.
What transfer taxes does a home seller pay in Illinois?
Illinois stacks up to three layers. The state layer is 50 cents per $500 of sale price, about 0.1%, set at 35 ILCS 200/31-10 and charged on every sale statewide. The county layer is 25 cents per $500, about 0.05%, authorized by 55 ILCS 5/5-1031 and charged in Cook and most counties. Some municipalities add a third; sellers inside Chicago city limits owe the CTA portion at $1.50 per $500, about 0.3%. Most Illinois sellers outside Chicago pay only the state and county layers, about 0.15% combined, roughly $518 on a $345,000 sale. Rates are set by law and are subject to change.
Who pays for the owner’s title insurance policy in Illinois?
In Illinois it is customary for the seller to pay for the owner’s title insurance policy, the policy that protects the buyer’s ownership against defects in the chain of title. The premium comes off a published rate card rather than a negotiation. On Chicago Title Insurance Company’s 2025 Illinois metro-counties schedule, the owner’s policy is $2,250 on a sale of $240,001 to $250,000, $2,450 on a sale of $340,001 to $350,000, and $2,750 on a sale of $490,001 to $500,000. Rate cards differ by underwriter and by county.
Are seller closing costs negotiable in Illinois?
Some are and some are not. Transfer taxes and recording fees are set by law and are not negotiable. Owner’s title insurance premiums come off a published rate card. Attorney fees vary by attorney. Which side pays which cost can be negotiated between buyer and seller. The commission is different: it has never been set by law, it is always negotiable, and the 2024 NAR settlement confirmed that.
What is the median home sale price in Illinois?
Illinois REALTORS reported a statewide median sale price of $345,000 for June 2026, up 6.2 percent from $325,000 in June 2025, across 14,374 closed sales. That is a closed-sale median from MLS data, which is a different measurement from a home-value index such as Zillow’s ZHVI. Closing-cost math should be run against a closed-sale median.
What is a flat fee real estate broker?
A flat fee real estate broker charges a set dollar amount for listing services rather than a percentage of the sale price. Net Gain Realty is a full-service flat-fee brokerage, not a discount or limited-service broker: the listing fee is a flat $1,995 per listing, covering full MLS exposure, professional photography, showing coordination, negotiation, and closing support. A discount or limited-service broker lowers the price by removing services. Net Gain Realty changes only how the fee is calculated, not what the listing work includes. Net Gain Realty serves the Chicago metro. Commission rates are always negotiable and vary by brokerage.
Net Gain Realty charges a flat fee of $1,995 for listing services in the Chicago metro. Commission rates are not set by law, vary by brokerage, and are fully negotiable. Buyer-agent compensation is separate and is negotiated between the parties. All figures on this page are estimates; actual costs depend on your specific transaction, your municipality, and your service providers.
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