Champaign's renter majority and its new rental registry
Champaign is a renter's town. Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 count 36,815 occupied homes in the city, and only 16,126 of them, about 44 percent, are lived in by their owners. The other 20,689 are rented. Plenty of the houses that sell here are rentals, and the city just changed their rules.
On April 21, 2026, the city adopted a Residential Rental Registration requirement. It covers any building with a dwelling unit for rent, short-term rentals included, with a few exceptions such as a single-family home where the tenant is related to the owner. If you sell a rental, the new owner has 30 days after the change of ownership to file an amended registration. Enforcement starts March 1, 2027. After that, fines run $50 for a first offense, $200 for a second and $350 for a third, and every unregistered day counts as its own offense.
Vacant houses, a notarized buyer statement and the final water reading
A vacant house can end up on a different list. The city makes owners register a vacant nuisance residential building when, for example, it's condemned, boarded up for more than 90 days in a row, or carrying code violations left unresolved for 45 days or longer. Registration costs $315 for the first six months, $630 for the second and $945 for every six months after that. Skipping it costs $315 plus $53 a day, and unpaid fees become liens on the property. Selling one adds a step. Before the sale, you have to hand the Code Compliance Manager a signed, notarized statement from the buyer acknowledging the registration requirement, and the new owner has 14 days to file a fresh registration.
Illinois American Water is the only water provider for Champaign residents, so your final water reading comes from that company, not City Hall. Wastewater runs through the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District.
Pre-1940 blocks, a 2010s building wave and a 1985 median
Champaign's 41,299 housing units have a median build year of 1985. About 11 percent of units went up in 1939 or earlier, and about 23 percent before 1960. At the other end, 6,765 units, roughly 16 percent, were built from 2010 through 2019.
If your house was built before 1978, and nearly a quarter of the city's units predate 1960 alone, you owe the buyer the federal lead pamphlet and disclosure, and a 10-day window to test for lead.
Tax code 4101, a 2027 reassessment and the Urbana courthouse
In the county's 2025 rate book, the main city tax code, 4101, totals 7.7472 per $100 of assessed value. Champaign Unit 4 Schools takes 4.5886 of that, the city 1.3152, county government 0.7567 and the City of Champaign Township 0.04. Assessors value your home at one-third of market value, and the county's 2025 multiplier was 1. The township is District 4 in the county's rotating schedule, which puts its next quadrennial reassessment in 2027. Late payments pick up interest, and taxes still unpaid are offered at the county tax sale on October 30. The Champaign County page covers the tax sale and exemptions in more detail.
Foreclosures go to the Circuit Court at 101 East Main Street in Urbana. For an owner-occupied home, the county's mandatory mediation program comes first, and no default can be entered until it's done unless you miss the intake conference. Your right to redeem runs until the later of 7 months from service or 3 months after the judgment, and it ends before the sale. The county page walks through the rest of the process.
Running the numbers on $244,950
Redfin's tracker put Champaign's median sale price at $244,950 in May 2026, on 90 sales, down 5.8 percent from a year earlier. Homes sold in a median 39 days and closed at about 99.9 percent of list.
At $244,950, a commission of about 4.9 percent (Clever's Illinois average, updated September 2026) is about $12,000. Closing costs near 1.2 percent add roughly $2,900. The state transfer tax is 50 cents per $500, about $245, and the county adds 25 cents per $500, about $120, as the county page lays out. The seller customarily pays both, though that's negotiable. For carrying costs, if you live there, take a third of the price, subtract the $6,000 general homestead exemption and apply the 7.7472 rate. That's roughly $5,900 a year, about $490 for every month the house sits. Add it up and a traditional sale runs about $15,300 plus those monthly taxes, before repairs, your payoff or the move.
If the property is a fit, a cash buyer may make you an offer, and you pick the closing date. Listing is a fine choice too, especially for a move-in-ready house in a market closing near asking. Run both numbers before you decide.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 housing profile (DP04); U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 median year built; City of Champaign Municipal Code, rental registration; City of Champaign Municipal Code, vacant nuisance residential buildings; City of Champaign, utility providers; Champaign County Clerk, 2025 rate book; Champaign County Assessment Office, reassessment schedule; Champaign County Administrative Order 2022-6; 735 ILCS 5/15-1603; U.S. EPA, lead disclosure; Redfin Data Center; Clever commission survey
