Straight answers

Fair Home Cash What fees do sellers pay in a cash sale?

The seller-side fee list, line by line: what disappears in a direct cash sale, what the law still charges, and the difference between a fee and a payoff.

The short answer

In a direct cash sale the fee list can be zero: no agent commission, no service charge, and in a standard deal the buyer covers the usual seller closing costs. What still comes out of the price are your own obligations — the mortgage payoff, back taxes, and liens. When Fair Home Cash buys, we pay the seller's closing costs and the transfer tax. The settlement statement shows every line.

Key takeaways

In a direct cash sale there is no listing agent, so no agent commission enters the math.
Sellers are never charged a service or program fee at Fair Home Cash.
Many direct buyers cover seller closing costs, so get that promise in writing whoever you sell to.
When Fair Home Cash buys, it pays the seller's closing costs and transfer tax. With any other buyer, the written offer should say who pays the transfer stamps.
Your mortgage payoff, back taxes and liens are your own obligations being cleared, not fees.

The baseline

What a traditional sale charges, for comparison

To judge a cash sale’s fee list, you need the listed sale’s. On Illinois’s median sale of $335,000 (Illinois REALTORS Monthly Local Market Update, May 2026), the agent commission alone averages 4.9% — roughly $16,415 (Clever’s 2026 commission survey) — and seller-side closing costs typically add another 1 to 3% of the price (Redfin’s seller closing-cost guide). That stack, plus repairs and months of carrying costs while the listing sits, is what the traditional route charges for its higher sticker price. Our Illinois closing-costs breakdown itemizes every line with sources, and the cash offer estimator lets you run both routes with your own numbers.

The cash-sale fee list

Line by line: what you pay, what you don't

Commission: zero. A direct sale has no listing agent, so the 4.9% simply never enters the math. Service or program fees: zero in a direct cash sale. Some large iBuyer companies charge a published service fee instead of a commission — read any contract for that line. Sellers are never charged a service or program fee here. Seller closing costs — title, escrow, settlement, recording: Fair Home Cash covers these, and many direct buyers do; how buyers calculate offers shows the itemized table. Whoever you sell to, get that promise in writing. Your own attorney: Illinois does not mandate one at the closing table, but attorney review is customary at Illinois residential closings and it is the one line item genuinely worth paying for — your attorney works for you, not the buyer.

The line the law writes

Transfer taxes: the fee that depends on your address

Most states charge a tax to record the transfer of real estate, and it usually lands on the seller’s side of the statement. In Illinois the state charges $0.50 per $500 of price (35 ILCS 200/31-10); Cook County adds $0.25 per $500, and Chicago layers a $5.25 per $500 real property transfer tax on top — the contract and local ordinance set how those Chicago lines split between buyer and seller, so confirm the split before you sign. A cash buyer covering “closing costs” may or may not be covering transfer stamps; it is the single most worthwhile clarifying question, and the answer belongs in the written offer, not in a phone call. When Fair Home Cash buys, we pay the seller's transfer tax.

Fees versus payoffs

The biggest number on the statement is usually not a fee at all

Sellers comparing offers often stare at the gap between the price and the wire that arrives and conclude they were charged. Usually they are looking at their own payoffs: the mortgage balance, back property taxes, water bills, liens, and the property-tax proration that credits the buyer for your share of taxes accrued to closing day (itemized for Illinois, with sources, on our closing-costs page). Those are debts the sale settles on your behalf — the title company pays them from the price and records the releases, and you would owe every dollar of them no matter how you sold. A fee is money the transaction itself charges you; a payoff is your own obligation getting cleared. Keeping those two columns separate is most of the skill in reading a settlement statement.

The red flags: the legitimate version of a cash sale has no application fee, no “processing” charge, no “paperwork” fee, and never a charge to receive an offer. The settlement statement is prepared by the title company, not the buyer — read it before signing, have your attorney read it with you, and if an invented line appears on it, you have just learned the buyer’s real price. The FAQ on whether cash buyers pay closing costs covers who pays which line in more depth.