Most sellers know about the commission. That is the number everybody talks about.
Then closing day arrives and the settlement statement has eighteen line items on it, and only one of them is the commission. Sellers who did the math on commission alone are usually off by thousands.
Here is the full list of what comes out of a seller’s proceeds in Kane County and the surrounding western suburbs, in the order it tends to surprise people.
The property tax credit you owe the buyer
This is the biggest one nobody sees coming, so it goes first.
Illinois pays property taxes a year behind. When you sell, you owe the buyer a credit for the taxes that piled up while you lived there but were never billed. On a home with a mid-range Kane County tax bill, that credit runs into the thousands, and on a corridor home in St. Charles or Geneva it can be considerably more.
It is also negotiable, and the negotiation happens in the five business days after your contract is signed. We wrote a full breakdown of how the Illinois tax proration credit is calculated because it deserves its own explanation.
If you read one thing on this list twice, read that one.
Transfer taxes: the good news for Fox Valley sellers
Illinois stacks transfer taxes in up to three layers. Here is what actually applies here.
The state layer. Illinois charges $0.50 for every $500 of the sale price, or any fraction of $500. The seller pays it. The tax is collected through revenue stamps that get attached to the deed before it can be recorded.
The county layer. Kane County adds $0.25 per $500, also paid by the seller. DuPage County charges the same, which matters because parts of Batavia and St. Charles sit in DuPage rather than Kane.
Combined, that is $0.75 per $500, or 0.15% of your sale price.
On a $400,000 sale, the math is short. Divide $400,000 by $500 and you get 800 units. At $0.50 each the state takes $400, at $0.25 each the county takes $200, so your total transfer tax is $600.
One rounding rule to know: any fraction of $500 counts as a full $500. And if your buyer is assuming your existing mortgage, the tax applies only to the equity changing hands rather than the full price.
The municipal layer, which is where sellers here catch a break. Home rule municipalities in Illinois can add a transfer tax of their own, and some nearby towns do. The core Fox Valley towns mostly do not.
| Town | Municipal transfer tax | What is required |
|---|---|---|
| St. Charles | None | Final water bill paid |
| Batavia | None | Final water bill paid, provide buyer’s name |
| South Elgin | None | Final water bill paid, cancel water service online |
| Elgin | None. Stamp issued at $0 | Stamp required. See below |
| Bartlett | $3.00 per $1,000 | Stamp, final water bill, transfer form |
| Aurora | $3.00 per $1,000 | Stamp, statement of open accounts |
| North Aurora | None | Final water and sewer bill paid |
| Sleepy Hollow | None | Final water bill paid |
| West Dundee | None | Final water bill paid |
Requirements are set by local ordinance and change, so confirm with your own municipality before closing rather than relying on what a neighbor paid two years ago.
Worth noting for anyone moving east: Naperville charges $3.00 per $1,000 and Wheaton charges $2.50 per $1,000, and in both towns the buyer pays it rather than the seller. If you are selling here and buying there, that lands on your side of the next transaction.
The stamp requirements that can delay your closing
Here is something that trips up sellers who assume a $0 stamp means nothing to do.
Elgin is the clearest example in this market. The stamp itself costs nothing, but getting it is a process. The city runs a property search for code violations, which the buyer has to acknowledge. It checks for outstanding debts owed to the city, including the final water bill, and all of it has to be paid first. A final water meter reading has to be scheduled within five days of closing. If the property has been vacant, a code inspection may be required before the stamp is issued. The city asks to be contacted three to five days before closing.
No stamp means the deed cannot be recorded. No recording means no closing.
None of this is difficult. All of it takes time you did not budget for if you learn about it three days out. Ask early which requirements apply in your town.
Attorney fees
Illinois is an attorney state. Residential closings here run through lawyers rather than title agents handling everything, and you will have your own attorney reviewing the contract, negotiating the tax proration, handling the inspection response, and attending closing.
Most real estate attorneys in this market work on a flat fee for a standard residential sale rather than billing hourly. Ask for the number up front and ask what falls outside the flat fee, because a deal that gets complicated can add charges.
Title insurance and closing fees
In Illinois, the seller customarily pays for the owner’s title insurance policy that protects the buyer against defects in the title you are passing along. There are also settlement or escrow fees for the closing itself, and charges for the title search and commitment.
These are real money and they are rarely negotiated, but you should see them itemized rather than lumped together.
The survey
For a detached single-family home in this market, the seller customarily provides a current plat of survey showing the lot lines and where the structures sit.
If you have an old survey in your closing file from when you bought, it may not satisfy the buyer’s lender, especially if anything has been built or changed since. Budget for a new one.
Commission, and what changed in 2024
Commission is still typically the largest single line item on a seller’s statement.
What changed is the structure. Industry rule changes that took effect in 2024 separated how buyer agent compensation is handled. Buyers now sign written agreements with their own agents, and what a seller offers toward the buyer’s side became an explicit negotiation rather than a standing assumption.
Practically, this means the commission conversation has more moving parts than it did a few years ago, and sellers have more to decide. Anyone telling you the number is simply fixed at a standard rate is skipping the part where you get a say.
Everything that shows up after the inspection
The costs above are predictable. This category is not.
After the inspection, buyers commonly ask for repairs, a credit, or a price reduction. Whatever gets agreed to lands on your settlement statement. This is the single most variable line on the sheet, and it is the one most influenced by decisions you made before listing.
A pre-listing inspection is worth thinking about here. Finding a problem yourself gives you the choice of fixing it, disclosing it, or pricing for it. Finding it during the buyer’s inspection means negotiating from behind, usually under a deadline.
The mortgage payoff, which is not what your statement says
Your loan balance and your payoff amount are different numbers. The payoff includes interest accrued through the actual closing date, and possibly other charges depending on your loan.
Request a written payoff letter early rather than working from your monthly statement.
Building your real number
Add it up and the pattern is clear. Transfer taxes here are modest, 0.15% of the sale price in most of the Fox Valley. Commission is the headline. But the tax proration credit, attorney fee, title policy, survey, and post-inspection concessions together make up a substantial share of what leaves your side of the table, and the proration credit alone often exceeds every transfer tax you pay combined.
This matters most for the sellers we work with most often: families selling a starter home in South Elgin or Elgin so they can buy something larger in St. Charles, Geneva, or Batavia. Your proceeds from the sale are the down payment on the next house. Every item on this list either grows or shrinks that down payment.
Two places to start. The home value estimate gives you the top of the calculation, and the rest of our guide to selling in the Fox Valley covers the timeline these costs land on. If speed and certainty matter more to you than squeezing out the last dollar, the cash offer option changes several of these line items, and it is worth comparing side by side rather than assuming.
Either way, run the full number before you list, not after you are under contract.
Want the itemized version for your specific house and town? Reach out and we will build it with you.
Closing costs and local requirements vary by municipality and change over time. This post is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm current rates with your attorney and your village.
