Seller guide · Costs
What it really costs to sell a house in Illinois.
Selling a Chicagoland home usually costs somewhere between 6 and 10 percent of the sale price once you add up commissions, transfer taxes, attorney fees, title charges, and getting the house ready. Here is every line item, what drives it up or down, and how the math changes depending on which selling path you pick.
What are the main costs of selling?
Six line items cover almost everything a typical Illinois seller pays. Some are fixed, some scale with your price, and a couple are entirely avoidable depending on how you sell.
| Line item | What to expect | Can you avoid it? |
|---|---|---|
| Agent commission | Historically 5–6% total; negotiable, and buyer-agent compensation is now a separate negotiated decision | Reduced or restructured depending on path |
| Transfer taxes | State $0.50 per $500 + county $0.25 per $500 + municipal (varies by town; some charge none) | No — applies to every sale |
| Attorney fee | Typically $500–$1,500; Illinois closings run through attorneys | No — and you shouldn’t want to |
| Title & closing charges | Owner’s title policy, escrow/closing fees, recording; scales with price | No, but they’re predictable |
| Repairs, prep & staging | Anywhere from a deep clean to five figures of updates — depends entirely on the house | Yes — selling as-is removes this line |
| Carrying costs while you wait | Mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities for every month on market | Shrinks with a faster path |
How do commissions actually work now?
For decades the rule of thumb was 5 to 6 percent of the sale price, split between the listing agent and the buyer’s agent. Two things are worth knowing today. First, commission has always been negotiable — there is no set rate. Second, since the industry settlement in 2024, what you offer a buyer’s agent is a separate decision you make with your listing agent, not an automatic split. A good listing conversation now includes real strategy about what buyer-agent compensation gets your home the most attention for the least cost.
When we map your options in a listing consultation, the commission line is on the table like everything else — you see what you’re paying and what you’re getting for it.
What does an example net sheet look like?
Here is an illustrative example — round numbers, not a quote, and your town’s transfer tax and your mortgage payoff will move every line. Say a Schaumburg-area home sells the traditional way for $400,000:
- Commission (illustrative 5.5%): $22,000
- State + county transfer tax: $600
- Attorney + title + closing: roughly $2,500–$4,000
- Pre-list repairs and prep: $0 to five figures — house-dependent
Before repairs, that’s roughly $25,000–$27,000 in selling costs — about 6 to 7 percent — and whatever remains after your mortgage payoff is your walk-away number. This is exactly the sheet we build for your actual address, for every path, in a free consultation.
How does each selling path change the math?
Costs aren’t one-size-fits-all because selling isn’t one-size-fits-all. A traditional MLS listing carries the full cost stack above but usually produces the highest price. Selling as-is to an investor — where we represent you and lay the tradeoffs out honestly — removes repairs, staging, and months of carrying costs, in exchange for a lower price; our guide on as-is vs. listing walks that comparison in detail. Holding and selling later shifts the question to carrying costs and timing — sometimes the right answer is not to sell yet, and we’ll say so.
Timing matters too: every extra month on market is another month of mortgage, taxes, and insurance. Our guide on how long a Chicagoland sale takes covers what actually drives the clock.
Costs also vary a little town to town — municipal transfer taxes differ across Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, and the rest of Chicagoland — so the net sheet is always address-specific.
What’s the cheapest way to find out your real number?
Ask. A net sheet costs you nothing and commits you to nothing. Bring us the address and we’ll bring back the math for every path — or grab the free 5-Path Options Guide first and reach out when you’re ready.
Questions, answered honestly
What people ask before they call.
- For most sellers it's the agent commission. The historical norm has been 5 to 6 percent of the sale price, split between the listing side and the buyer's side — but commissions are negotiable, and since the 2024 industry settlement, what you offer a buyer's agent is a separate, negotiated decision. On a typical Chicagoland home that single line is bigger than every other cost combined.
- The state charges $0.50 per $500 of sale price and your county adds $0.25 per $500. Many towns add their own municipal transfer tax on top, and some charge nothing — it varies suburb by suburb, so check your village's rate before you estimate your net. Your attorney or broker will confirm the exact figure for your address.
- In practice, yes. Illinois is an attorney-close state — a real estate attorney reviews the contract, handles title and closing documents, and represents you at the closing table. Typical fees run a few hundred to around fifteen hundred dollars depending on the attorney and how complicated the sale is. It's money well spent: they catch problems before the problems cost you more.
- An as-is sale to an investor usually removes the prep costs: no repairs, no staging, no monthly carrying costs while you wait for a buyer. You'll still have transfer taxes, attorney fees, and title charges. The tradeoff is the price — an investor pays for the convenience and the condition risk they're taking on. We put both numbers side by side so you can compare what you'd actually walk away with.
- Yes — that's exactly what we do in a free consultation. We run your address, your mortgage payoff, your town's transfer taxes, and realistic price ranges for each selling path, and hand you a net sheet for every option. No listing agreement required, and no obligation to pick any of them.
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Get a free net sheet for your address.
Tell us about your home and we'll run the math for every selling path — commissions, taxes, and all. No pressure, no commitment.