Who pays for title, escrow, transfer taxes, and the attorney when a cash buyer purchases your house — and the one document that settles it.
Usually, yes. The seller's usual closing costs — about 1 to 3% of the price in a traditional sale — are covered by the buyer in a standard cash sale, and you pay zero fees and zero commissions on top. Get it in writing either way: the closing statement shows exactly who pays what.
Closing costs are everything the closing itself consumes: title search and title insurance, escrow and settlement fees, recording fees, transfer taxes, and — in Illinois, where attorneys customarily handle residential closings — attorney fees. In a traditional sale those seller-side items typically run about 1 to 3% of the price, and they come out of your proceeds on top of the agent's commission.
What to verify with a buyerThe fee comparison table itemizes a common structure for a typical $150,000 house: agent commission, $0. Seller closing costs, often $0 when the buyer agrees to cover them. Repairs, $0 when the buyer purchases as-is. Cleaning and hauling, $0 when the contract lets you leave unwanted items. Put every one of those terms in the written purchase contract rather than relying on a verbal promise.
One honest distinction, because it is where confusion starts: your own debts against the house — the mortgage balance, back taxes, liens — still get paid at closing, out of the sale proceeds, by the title company. That is not a fee and it is not ours; it is your payoff, and every line of it appears on your settlement statement. You do not bring money to closing, and you walk away with whatever is left over, clean.
The document that settles itEvery legitimate closing produces a settlement statement that itemizes each dollar in and out, prepared by the title company — not by the buyer. Before you sign, read it, and have your own attorney walk you through it; that review is standard practice at Illinois closings and it is your single best protection. If a "processing" charge, "paperwork" fee, or any other invention appears on it, you are looking at the buyer's real offer.
That is also the rule for comparing cash buyers: promises about costs only count in writing. Ask any buyer to show you, before you commit, exactly which closing costs they cover — a fair one will put it on paper, the way right #4 of our Seller's Bill of Rights does. And if you want to see how the costs interact with the offer itself, run your numbers through the cash offer estimator first.
More quick answersIf the property is a fit, you may get a written offer, typically within 24 hours, with the buyer's closing-cost terms itemized. Confirm the final allocation on the settlement statement. No fees, no obligation.
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