What Will I Net Selling My House in Chicagoland?
Before you compare offers, pull your mortgage payoff and confirm your municipality and county. Those two facts drive most of your net. Then subtract broker compensation, transfer taxes, closing agent charges, credits, and prorations from the sale price, and treat the final settlement statement as the only number that counts.
What will I net selling a house in Chicagoland?
Your net on a house in Chicagoland is the final sale price minus your mortgage payoff, broker compensation, transfer taxes, closing agent charges, any credits you agree to, and prorations through the closing date. The exact figure depends on your municipality, your county, and your contract, so the settlement statement at closing is the only number that is final. Steve walks sellers through this math before they list, so list price and take-home proceeds can be compared side by side.
Key Takeaways
Homes sold in Naperville over the last ~90 days (as of November 2026) had a median sale price of $670,000, but that is an area-level number, and your net depends on your payoff, your contract, and your location.
The Illinois state transfer tax is $0.50 per $500 of value or fraction thereof, and it sits on top of any county or municipal transfer tax.
Chicago's city transfer tax assigns $1.50 per $500 to the seller and $3.75 per $500 to the buyer, and it applies only to property inside Chicago.
Who pays state and county transfer taxes outside Chicago is commonly negotiated, so confirm it in your own contract.
Prorations, repair credits, and your lender's payoff figure can all move your proceeds after an offer is accepted, and the final settlement statement controls.
How do you calculate the net on a house in Chicagoland, step by step?
Subtract your costs from the expected sale price in a fixed order, then check the result against a real settlement statement. Working in the same order every time keeps a line item from slipping through.
Expected sale price. Steve prices from comparable sales: a 1-mile radius, square footage within plus or minus 20%, within one bed or bath, and matched as closely as possible on age, garage, and basement. He doesn't lead with a number he can't defend, and your net sheet shouldn't either.
Mortgage payoff and liens. Ask your lender for an official payoff figure. It isn't the same as the balance on your last statement. Any other lien or judgment on title comes out at this step too.
Broker compensation. Broker fees are fully negotiable and not set by law, and there is no standard rate. Your listing fee is agreed in your listing agreement. Any compensation you choose to offer a buyer's agent is optional and separately negotiable. If you want to know what it would cost on your sale, that's a direct conversation with Steve.
Transfer taxes. State, county, and sometimes city taxes, depending on where the property sits. More on that below.
Closing agent, recording, and payoff-related charges. These are the fees tied to the title work and the paperwork that moves the deed and pays off your loan.
Credits and concessions. Repair or inspection credits and any seller-paid buyer concessions reduce your proceeds, so track them as their own line.
Prorations. Property taxes, association charges, utilities, and similar ownership expenses are allocated through the closing date.
The last step is the one most online calculators skip: reconcile your estimate against the settlement statement your closing agent prepares. For a category-by-category look at what sellers encounter, see Steve's breakdown in Cost to Sell a House in Chicagoland in 2026.
Do transfer taxes and closing costs change by city and county?
Yes. Chicagoland isn't one closing-cost jurisdiction, so identify your municipality and county before you build any estimate. A Chicago sale can involve state, Cook County, and City of Chicago transfer taxes, while a suburban sale involves the state and county taxes plus any municipal tax, but not Chicago's.
What are the transfer tax rules that apply?
The Illinois Department of Revenue describes the state transfer tax as $0.50 per $500 of value, or fraction thereof, and notes that local transfer taxes may apply in addition. Inside the city, the City of Chicago Department of Finance states that the buyer is responsible for $3.75 per $500 and the seller for $1.50 per $500 of the transfer price.
Outside Chicago, rates, forms, and customary practice vary across Cook, DuPage, Will, Kane, and neighboring counties. Who pays the state and county tax is commonly negotiated between the parties, so confirm it in your own contract rather than assuming. Your closing agent prepares the transfer declaration (the PTAX-203) as part of the closing file.
Should you use a title company or a real estate attorney?
Either works, and both are completely normal in Illinois. A title company or settlement agent is often chosen for its streamlined processing. A real estate attorney is often chosen by people who want legal advice built into the closing. Either one coordinates title work, payoff information, transfer-tax documents, and disbursement of your proceeds. In Illinois the buyer generally picks the closing agent, but confirm that in your contract, and know that you can bring your own attorney to review your side regardless.
How does your sale price shape what you take home?
Price is the biggest input in your net, so an accurate list price matters more than trimming any single closing line. A house in Chicagoland that is priced past what the comps support tends to sit, and a longer path to a sale can end in a lower number than an accurate price would have reached on day one.
For market context, recent local market data shows a median sale price of $670,000 for homes sold in Naperville over the last ~90 days as of November 2026. The median time from listing to going under contract for those recently sold homes was 7 days. There were 408 homes for sale now, 209 new listings in the last 30 days, and 510 homes sold in the trailing 90 days. Those are area-level figures. An individual home's value depends on condition, street, build year, and timing.
Here is how median sale prices compare across several areas Steve works in, using the same trailing 90-day window:
Source: aggregated public listing data, trailing 90 days, as of November 2026.
Area | Median Sale Price |
|---|---|
Naperville | $670,000 |
Plainfield | $387,000 |
Bolingbrook | $375,000 |
Romeoville | $320,500 |
Crest Hill | $286,000 |
Joliet | $300,000 |
Oswego | $450,000 |
Montgomery | $337,250 |
A median tells you where an area sits, not what your house will net. For metro-wide monthly reporting, Illinois REALTORS publishes MLS-based housing reports, and Chicago Agent Magazine covers the suburban picture. To see how Steve approaches pricing in a specific part of the market, read How to Price Your Home Right in Chicago's Southwest Suburbs in 2026.
What if speed or certainty matters more than top dollar?
Then compare the net on a traditional sale against a cash offer, not just the headline number. Steve works with four cash-offer partners, QuickBuy®, Opendoor, Zoom Casa, and UpEquity (which lends in Illinois), and matches the seller to the program that fits their timeline and numbers instead of pushing one by default. Steve is compensated only through his real estate commission when a sale closes and the seller has been paid, with no referral or finder's fees from any cash-offer partner. Forcing every seller into the same program costs some of them money, which is why the comparison is worth running.
What can change your net between an accepted offer and closing?
Inspection credits, an updated payoff figure, and prorations can all move your final proceeds, and the settlement statement controls the final numbers. Treat any pre-closing estimate as a working range until that statement is in your hands.
Prorations are the item sellers most often overlook. Taxes, association charges, utilities, and similar ownership costs are divided between you and the buyer through the closing date, according to your contract, and your closing agent calculates the credit or debit. If your property is in Cook County's south or west suburbs, 2026 is a triennial reassessment year, which makes it worth reading Steve's post on the 2026 Cook County reassessment and selling your home before you finalize your estimate.
Your specific number depends on your payoff, your location, your contract terms, and your timing. That's where a personalized net sheet with Steve and Kimberly replaces a generic calculator.
Curious how Steve and Kimberly work with sellers? Read their reviews on Google, Zillow, and Realtor.com.
FAQ
Who pays transfer taxes when selling in Illinois, and does Chicago's tax apply in the suburbs?
Chicago's city transfer tax applies only to property inside Chicago, where the city's published allocation puts $1.50 per $500 on the seller and $3.75 per $500 on the buyer. Suburban sales involve the Illinois state transfer tax plus county and any municipal tax, and who pays those is commonly negotiated. Confirm the allocation in your own contract.
Should I use a title company or a real estate attorney when selling?
Either is a normal choice in Illinois. A title company or settlement agent handles the closing mechanics, and a real estate attorney does the same while also providing legal review. Your contract spells out who selects the closing agent, so check it before you assume.
How are property taxes prorated when I sell?
Property taxes are divided between you and the buyer through the closing date, as your contract provides. Your closing agent calculates the credit or debit, and it appears on the settlement statement. If your taxes are changing because of a reassessment, mention it to your closing agent early.
How do mortgage payoff, liens, and repair credits affect my proceeds?
Each one comes straight out of your proceeds. Your lender's payoff figure and any liens or judgments are paid from the sale before you receive anything. Repair or inspection credits you agree to reduce the amount further, so build them into your estimate as soon as they are negotiated.
What documents do I need to estimate my net before listing?
Gather your most recent mortgage statement, a payoff request to your lender, your latest property tax bill, and any association statement. Add anything that could show up as a lien or judgment on title. With those in hand, Steve can build a realistic estimate around your expected sale price.
Ready to see your own number?
Your net comes down to the same sequence every time: price, payoff, broker compensation, transfer taxes, closing charges, credits, and prorations. Steve and Kimberly build that estimate around your actual address, your actual payoff, and your actual contract terms, so you know the take-home before you choose a list price. Schedule a Strategy Session to walk through your numbers, or Get a Free Home Valuation to start with a value range.
About Steve Roake
Steve Roake, REALTOR®, ABR®, SFR®, and Kimberly Genovese, REALTOR®, lead Constellation Home Sales | Freedom Group Global, a real estate team at Keller Williams Preferred Realty in Orland Park, Illinois. Steve has been licensed since 2003 and holds licenses in Illinois and Indiana; Kimberly has been licensed in Indiana since 2004. The team serves Will, Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane and Kendall counties in Illinois and Lake, Porter, Newton, Jasper and La Porte counties in Northwest Indiana, and has closed 615+ transactions representing more than $113 million in sales volume.
Equal Housing Opportunity. Steve Roake is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Illinois and Indiana, regulated in Illinois by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). This article is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice; confirm your own numbers with your closing agent, tax advisor, or lender.
