Berwyn's 1 percent stamp comes with a checklist
Berwyn charges its own real estate transfer tax of $10 for every $1,000 of the selling price, or 1 percent, and the city's transfer checklist has the seller buying the stamps at City Hall. They don't come until the paperwork is clean. You have to show the Collector that the Certificate of Compliance rules in Chapter 1442 are met, and the Water Department has to certify that water, garbage and sewer charges are paid in full. The final water reading gets scheduled 3 to 5 days before closing, and the final bill is paid in person when you buy the stamp.
Even a transfer the ordinance exempts pays a $100 processing fee before it's stamped. A foreclosure or sheriff's deed pays $500.
A City Hall inspection, ordered 30 days out
Every property transfer in Berwyn needs a compliance inspection. You order and pay for it in person at City Hall, at least 30 days ahead. The fee is $50 for a single-family home, $75 for a building of up to three units and $125 for four to six. A water service inspection is required too. Reports expire six months after the inspection, so a listing that drags can mean doing it twice.
You'll also need a plat of survey ordered within six months of the transfer. Selling as-is is allowed, but it takes either an escrow or an attorney's letter tied to the compliance report. And every buyer on the deed has to sign notarized affidavits before the seller can buy stamps. They swear the basement or attic isn't an apartment and won't be rented as one, and let the city re-inspect within a year. The basement form lists fines of $750 and up to $1,000 a day. If your garden unit was never legal, expect it to come up.
Brick bungalows, duplexes and old basements
Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 count 22,027 housing units in Berwyn, and about 60 percent were built in 1939 or earlier. Roughly 83 percent predate 1960. The Central Berwyn Bungalow Historic District, added to the National Register on August 18, 2015, has 1,358 contributing buildings, and 1,109 of them are brick Chicago bungalows. Larger homes tend to sit on the south side, while smaller bungalows fill the north side around Cermak Road and Roosevelt Road. The city also has a lot of duplexes and three-unit buildings. About 61 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
An older home comes with federal lead disclosures and a window for the buyer to test, and the Illinois disclosure form asks whether you know of lead water pipes. The City Council adopted a Residential Flood Mitigation Shared Cost Program on November 12, 2014, to help owners pay for systems that stop sewer backup in heavy rain. If you know your basement has flooded, that's a material defect you have to put on the Illinois form.
Berwyn Township's appeal window and the court side
Berwyn Township shares the city's exact borders, and it's in this year's reassessment. The Cook County Assessor dated Berwyn notices May 20, 2026. The Assessor appeal deadline passed July 6, and Board of Review appeals run August 31 to September 29, 2026. For tax year 2024 the Clerk put the city's average composite rate at 11.657 percent, up from 11.302 percent.
Behind on the mortgage? The case goes to the Mortgage Foreclosure Section of the Circuit Court of Cook County's Chancery Division, and the Cook County page walks through the deadlines. You can reinstate within 90 days of service by paying what you missed plus costs, and your right to redeem runs until the later of 7 months after service or 3 months after the judgment. The county's free mediation line is (855) 452-2637. For back taxes, the Treasurer lists the next tax sale for December 15, 2026, and what sells there is a lien, not the house. That page has the wider picture.
The honest math on $377,000 in Berwyn
Redfin's data center put Berwyn's median sale price at $377,450 in May 2026. Say your house would list near $377,000. Commission at about 4.9 percent, Clever's Illinois average (updated September 2026), is roughly $18,500. Closing costs near 1.2 percent add about $4,500. Your stamps come to about $4,340, most of it Berwyn's 1 percent. With the $50 inspection you're near $27,400 before repairs. Taxes on a house at that price run roughly $1,000 for each month it sits, depending on your assessment and exemptions.
The other route: if the property is a fit, a cash buyer may make an offer, the closing date can be worked out around your plans, and the escrow or attorney's letter the city wants for an as-is sale can be worked into that deal. Listing may still net more, and that's a fine choice. Run both numbers first.
Sources: City of Berwyn, checklist for real estate transfer; City of Berwyn, transfer tax declaration; City of Berwyn, compliance inspection fees; City of Berwyn, buyer affidavits; City of Berwyn, flood information; Census Reporter, Berwyn ACS 2020-2024; Wikipedia, Central Berwyn Bungalow Historic District; Cook County Assessor, assessment calendar; Cook County Clerk, 2024 tax rate report; Cook County Clerk, transfer fees; Redfin Data Center; Clever commission survey
