# How Selling a Home Actually Works in Illinois

**The 17-Point Close.** The file system my office runs on every purchase and sale: checkpoints from signed contract to keys, each with a deadline and an owner. On a sale, the board flips to the seller's side: what you produce, what you concede, and what you refuse. This page is the seller's board. The system overview lives at https://thechicagolandlawyer.com/home-closing-guide/ and the buyer's board lives at https://thechicagolandlawyer.com/home-buying-guide/.

Got an offer? Once everyone signs, the buyer's attorney has five business days to rework the deal. You need an answer for every demand in that letter.

By Justin Abdilla, Illinois Real Estate Attorney, ARDC #6308444. Updated August 2026.

## The Deadline Arc

Day 0 is the Date of Acceptance. The contract becomes binding when all parties sign it and deliver it. Nearly every deadline in the sale runs from that date. As the seller, you do not just wait for these clocks. You produce documents against them.

| Stage | 8.0 Paragraph | Deadline | What the seller does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acceptance | Date of Acceptance field | Day 0 | Send the contract to your attorney the same day |
| Attorney review and inspection | 13, 15 | Business days 1 to 5 after acceptance | Answer the buyer's combined letter |
| Resolution deadline | 13(c), 15(b) | 10 business days after acceptance | Reach written agreement or either party may terminate |
| Buyer's loan application milestone | 8 | 10 business days after acceptance | If the buyer misses it, the seller gets 5 business days to terminate |
| Financing Contingency Date | 8 | Earlier of 45 days after acceptance or 5 business days before closing | Buyer's loan resolves, or somebody must act |
| Well and septic, where applicable | 16(b) | Reports delivered 10 business days before closing | Seller obtains and delivers the reports |
| Survey | 21 | No less than 1 business day before closing | Seller delivers the Plat of Survey, dated within 6 months |
| Closing | 5, 25, 29 | The paragraph 5 date; a non-business day rolls forward | Documents, funding, recording, keys |
| Possession | 35, if used | 11:59 p.m. on the Possession Date | Leave on time; the daily charge triples past the date |

## The Seller's Checkpoints

1. **Answer the buyer's attorney review letter (paragraph 13).** The letter arrives inside the five business day window. My response philosophy: agree to everything statutory, safety related, or cost free (smoke and carbon monoxide compliance, GFCI fixes, manuals, standard representations, reasonable extensions). Refuse cosmetics, comfort upgrades, and buyer-favorable damage caps. Convert blanket repair lists into one lump sum credit tied to a named list, or offer a maintenance-level substitute with a paid invoice. Answer functional-but-imperfect items with: functional, seller will demonstrate at the final walkthrough. Rebut exemption-stripping with the facts that make the exemption legitimate. Where a repair is agreed, demand a paid invoice before closing. Review proposals must reach written agreement within 10 business days after acceptance, or either party may terminate.
2. **Order the mortgage payoff early, and check whether the loan is current.** An arrears figure changes your net. Verify the payoff against the closing statement.
3. **Powers of attorney for closing.** A seller who cannot attend signs a power of attorney, drafted and approved early.
4. **The SJEO form and the earnest money receipt (paragraphs 3(b) and 27).** Complete the title company's SJEO form early. Confirm the buyer's earnest money was delivered and receipted. The escrowee holds the deposit in trust for both parties.
5. **Title (paragraph 20).** The seller, at the seller's expense, delivers an ALTA title commitment with extended coverage in the amount of the price. Permitted exceptions: covenants and easements that do not interfere with current use, and taxes not yet due. Anything else the seller must remove or have the insurer commit to insure over. Order title early.
6. **Deed and figures (paragraph 18).** A recordable Warranty Deed, or the appropriate trustee's or executor's deed, with homestead released. Check the prorations and the closing statement line by line.
7. **The survey (paragraph 21).** Seller pays. Dated within 6 months of closing, licensed surveyor, corners staked. A "mortgage inspection" is not acceptable. Condominiums are exempt. Delivered no less than 1 business day before closing.
8. **The broker commission breakdown.** Compare the commission figures on the closing statement against the brokerage agreement. Errors come out of the seller's proceeds.
9. **Transfer stamps, municipal compliance, final water bills (paragraphs 18, 19, 12).** State stamp $0.50 per $500 of price, county stamp $0.25 per $500, seller pays, filed with the PTAX-203 declaration. Municipal transfer taxes follow the local ordinance. Many towns require water certification, a point-of-sale inspection, or a compliance certificate before the stamp issues. Utilities prorate through closing on final meter readings.
10. **Post-closing possession (paragraph 35).** The escrow protects the buyer. Default escrow is 2% of the price if the blank is empty. The seller pays a daily use-and-occupancy charge, and the charge triples for every day past the Possession Date. Liability is not capped at the escrow. Negotiate a realistic window and a fair daily rate, and keep insurance in force.
11. **The kick-out clause (paragraphs 31 and 32).** Under 31(c) the seller may keep marketing. On a bona fide backup offer, serve the kick-out notice on the buyer personally; service on the buyer's attorney or agent does not count. The buyer has the negotiated number of hours to waive in writing with the additional earnest money by cashier's or certified check. Late or missing funds make the waiver ineffective, and the seller proceeds with the backup. Paragraph 32(b) restarts the business-day clocks, except the earnest money deposit, from the seller's cancellation notice.
12. **Chicago only: the CPASS certificate.** The city's confirmation that the water and zoning accounts are paid in full.
13. **Selling out of a foreclosure.** When a payoff needs a court date, my office runs both calendars.
14. **The home warranty (paragraph 33).** A prepaid policy at a stated cost, prepayment evidence at closing. Used well, it is a negotiation chip that often closes an inspection argument for less than the credit the buyer wanted.

## Your Questions From the Sell Side

## Do I have to fix everything the inspector found?

No. A major component is not defective if it performs its function and poses no health or safety threat. Age does not matter. Cosmetic items are excluded no matter the cost. Agree to statutory and safety items, refuse the cosmetics, and price the middle into one credit.

## Can I keep marketing my house during attorney review?

You can keep showing the house and collect backup offers. You cannot use attorney review as an exit to a higher offer. Disapproval must be made in good faith, and it may not rest solely on the price. With the paragraph 31 sale contingency, the kick-out clause is the honest version of this move.

## What do I have to disclose?

Read the seller disclosure guide at https://thechicagolandlawyer.com/2026/04/01/real-estate-disclosure/ before you fill out a single form. Disclose honestly, and never let a disclosure fight become an open-ended repair promise. For as-is sales, see https://thechicagolandlawyer.com/2026/04/10/selling-a-house-as-is/.

## Can we change the closing date after the contract is signed?

Yes, by mutual written agreement, and only that way. The deal closes on the paragraph 5 date. Paragraph 29 makes time of the essence and gives attorney fees to the prevailing party in contract litigation.

## The buyer wants me out at closing, but I need two more weeks. What do I sign?

A paragraph 35 post-closing possession agreement. An escrow comes out of your proceeds, 2% of the price by default. You pay a daily charge, and the charge triples for every day past the Possession Date. Liability is not capped at the escrow. Make the window realistic, make the rate fair, and leave on time.

## Do I have to agree to everything the buyer's attorney asks for?

No. Agree to statutory, safety, and cost-free items. Refuse cosmetics, comfort upgrades, and buyer-only damage caps. Convert the repair list into one controlled credit. Offer to demonstrate functional items at the walkthrough. A firm, itemized response usually ends the negotiation in one round.

## If the deal dies during attorney review, what happens to the earnest money?

The buyer gets it back. A termination under a contingency is not a default, and forfeiture is never automatic. The money moves by joint written direction, by court order, or by the paragraph 27(a) procedure: a 14 day notice of intended disbursement, frozen by a written objection. Under Berggren v. Hill, forfeiture is presumptively the seller's exclusive remedy unless the contract says otherwise.

## Four Traps

- Do not concede cosmetic repairs. The contract excludes them no matter the cost.
- Do not sign a vague repair promise. Any agreed repair gets a licensed tradesperson and a paid invoice before closing.
- Serve the kick-out notice on the buyer personally. Service on the buyer's attorney or agent does not count.
- Never send or change wiring instructions by email alone. Confirm every instruction by phone at a number you already know.

## From My Files: The Enforcement-Ready Approval Letter

A seller signs a clean contract, and a higher offer arrives during attorney review. The buyer's approval letter warns that any attempt to disapprove and take a competing offer will be met with enforcement. Disapproval must be made in good faith, and it may not rest on the price. Get the price right before you sign, because after acceptance, the deal you signed is the deal.

## The Fee

Seller representation is free when my office handles the title work. The title work pays my fee at closing, so the seller never writes me a check. The consultation is free: 30 minutes by phone, (630) 839-9195.

## The Clock

The attorney review window is 5 business days from the Date of Acceptance, and it does not pause. The buyer's letter is coming, and the seller's response window is the same five days.

Cite as: Justin Abdilla, "How Selling a Home Actually Works in Illinois (The 17-Point Close)", https://thechicagolandlawyer.com/home-selling-guide/