Free Chicago Closing Statement Tool
I had a seller in Cicero run an older version of this calculator on a $450,000 sale. It returned $0.00 for the municipal transfer tax. Cicero actually charges the seller $4,500. Type in five numbers and see what actually reaches you at closing. No sign-up, no email, nothing sent anywhere. The whole calculation runs in your browser.
A seller's net sheet for an Illinois residential sale: state, county and municipal transfer taxes, an owner's title policy, the usual title and closing charges, your property tax proration to the closing date, broker compensation on both sides, and your mortgage payoff. I pull the transfer taxes straight from the statutes. Everything else is my estimate, and I label which is which.
Chicago Closing Statement Tool
Estimated seller net
Or call (630) 839-9195, or text (312) 489-8710.
How to Read the Result
Start small. I round every transfer tax up to the next $500 increment, exactly as the statutes require, so a $450,100 sale is taxed on 901 increments, not 900.2. A calculator that multiplies by a flat per-dollar rate instead comes out slightly low.
Three lines move the number more than that rounding quirk, and all three are things you control before you sign.
| Line | Why it moves |
|---|---|
| Broker compensation | A negotiated contract term, not a fixed rate |
| Tax proration uplift | 100% or 110% of the last bill is a drafting choice |
| Municipal transfer tax | Ranges from nothing to $10 per $1,000, by town |
I caught a smaller version of this a few days before writing this page. The seller prorated taxes off the prior year's bill after the county had already released the new one. That undercounted the proration by about 7.5 percent, more than my fee on the file.
The Transfer Taxes, and Where They Come From
These are the only figures in the tool I take from statute rather than estimate, and both round up.
| Level | Rate | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| State of Illinois | 50¢ per $500 | 35 ILCS 200/31-10 |
| County (optional, Cook imposes) | 25¢ per $500 | 55 ILCS 5/5-1031 |
| Municipality | varies widely | local ordinance |
Both statutes read "or fraction thereof," so a $450,100 sale is taxed on 901 increments of $500, not on 900.2. This tool rounds up. Many calculators multiply by a flat per-dollar rate and come out slightly low.
I pull municipal rates, rounding rules, minimums and party liability from the Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund ordinance table. I pull title insurance and closing fees from the Chicago Title 2026 metro rate card. I cite both on every line of the result.
Every Municipality, and Who Actually Pays
Municipal transfer tax is set town by town, the rate is only half the question, and the other half is who the ordinance makes liable. The table behind this tool covers 194 Illinois jurisdictions, each carrying its own ordinance citation and effective date.
| What the ordinance says | Jurisdictions | Your seller line |
|---|---|---|
| Seller pays, or splits it | 54 | the computed tax |
| Buyer pays | 18 | $0.00, and it says why |
| No transfer tax at all | 122 | $0.00, confirmed |
Source: Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund real estate tax ordinance table, read 2026-09-08. The tool reproduces each jurisdiction's rounding rule and minimum, because those change the answer: Alsip has a $100 floor, Aurora rounds to the nearest $1,000, Bartlett does not round at all.
I handle the whole closing for a buyer for a $500 flat fee. A seller pays nothing when my firm is the title agent and a realtor runs the sale.
The earlier version of this calculator knew 20 towns and returned $0.00 for everything else, which told a seller in a transfer-tax town that they owed nothing. Cicero is the clearest case: the ordinance charges the seller $10 per $1,000, so on a $450,000 sale that is $4,500, and the old tool showed zero. A zero here is now either "the buyer pays it" or "there is no such tax," and the tool names which. If your town genuinely is not in the table, it says that instead of guessing.
What This Tool Does Not Do
- The title figures are a published rate card, not a quote on your file. They come from Chicago Title's 2026 metro schedule, effective January 1, 2026, covering Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will. Another underwriter will differ, and so will your own file if anything about it is unusual. Above $1,000,000 the card stops publishing rates and the tool says so.
- Recording fees and any survey are excluded. Those are the county recorder and a surveyor, not the title company, and they vary by county.
- It does not add per diem interest or a payoff statement fee to your mortgage line. It uses the principal you enter.
- It does not handle credits to you: earnest money already held, a buyer credit you negotiated, or a seller-paid repair holdback.
- It does not compute income tax. Whether the sale is taxable, and any capital gains exclusion, is a separate question. See real estate earnings and taxes.
- It assumes a residential sale. Commercial deals, short sales and transfers into an entity all behave differently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this closing statement tool free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no email capture and nothing is sent anywhere. The calculation runs in your own browser, and the numbers you type never leave your device.
What is a seller's closing statement, or net sheet?
It is the line-by-line list of what comes off your sale price before you get paid: transfer taxes, title charges, prorated property taxes, broker compensation and your mortgage payoff. What is left is your net. A closing statement is the same idea in its final, official form at the closing table.
How much is the Illinois real estate transfer tax?
The state tax is 50 cents for each $500 of value or any fraction of $500, under 35 ILCS 200/31-10. A county may add 25 cents per $500 under 55 ILCS 5/5-1031, and Cook County does. Both round up to the next $500. Municipalities set their own on top, and the seller's share varies by town.
Does the seller still pay the buyer's broker?
Not automatically, and not since the 2024 changes to how broker compensation is offered. It is now a negotiated term of your contract. This tool therefore defaults the buyer's broker line to zero and lets you enter whatever you actually agreed to, rather than assuming three percent the way older calculators do.
Why does my town show a zero municipal transfer tax?
Because a zero can mean three different things, and the tool tells you which. Either the ordinance puts the tax on the buyer, which is 18 of the jurisdictions in the table, or the town has no municipal transfer tax at all, which is 122 of them, or your town is not among the 194 jurisdictions covered and the tool says so explicitly instead of guessing. Cicero shows why this matters: the ordinance charges the seller $10 per $1,000, which is $4,500 on a $450,000 sale, and an earlier version of this calculator reported zero.
What is the tax proration uplift?
Illinois property taxes are paid a year behind, so at closing you credit the buyer for the time you owned the property in the current year. Because the next bill is not out yet, contracts commonly prorate at 100 to 110 percent of the last known bill. The tool defaults to 105 percent and you can change it. That single setting can move your net by hundreds of dollars.
How accurate is the estimate?
The transfer taxes are computed from the statutes and from each municipality's own ordinance, with that town's rounding rule and any minimum applied. The title figures are Chicago Title's published 2026 metro rate card, effective January 1, 2026, rather than a quote on your file; another underwriter will differ. Recording fees and any survey are excluded, because those are the county recorder and a surveyor. The mortgage line uses the principal you enter and adds no per diem interest. Treat the result as a planning number.
Will you review my contract?
Yes. That is the actual job. The tool exists so you can see the shape of your closing before you sign, and a flat fee review catches the terms that move these numbers far more than any calculator can.
Where to go next
- The Chicago home selling guide. The whole process, contract to closing.
- Chicago real estate attorney services, including flat fee closings.
- The attorney review period, and what it is actually for.
- Selling without a realtor in Illinois.
- The Multi-Board 8.0 contract, clause by clause.
- Illinois short sales, if the payoff exceeds the price.
- Chicago cap rates, if you are selling an investment property.
Have an Attorney Read Your Contract
A calculator catches the math. It does not catch a bad clause. Send me your contract and I will tell you what it actually says. Book a free 30 minute call, call (630) 839-9195, or text (312) 489-8710.
This tool is general information, not legal advice, and using it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Transfer tax rates and title charges change. The statutory rates were verified against the codified text in September 2026.