Two stamps, one water form, and a McHenry deed
Selling in McHenry means two transfer stamps on the deed. The state charges 50 cents per $500 of the price, and McHenry County adds 25 cents per $500. A title company's stamp list shows both as costs the seller customarily pays, though who pays can be negotiated. Ask your title company early whether the city needs anything else at closing.
The city piece is the water. McHenry City Hall asks for a Water/Sewer Transfer Form when a house changes hands. It records the date ownership moves and the billing addresses for both the old and new owner. Bills go out every two months, even months or odd months depending on how your account number starts, so get your final numbers settled before you hand over the keys.
Newer homes, older homes and 298 lead lines on the city's list
Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 count 12,095 housing units in McHenry. Only about 2.9 percent went up in 1939 or earlier, and roughly 27 percent were built in 2000 or later. Still, about 39 percent date from before 1980. If yours was built before 1978, you owe the buyer the federal lead pamphlet and disclosure, and a 10-day window for a lead inspection.
Water pipes are the other lead question. The city's 2026 inventory counts 8,066 service lines, and 298 of them are lead. It's easier to check your address on the list before a buyer's inspector asks, so you know what you'd be disclosing.
Owners, renters and rental registration
McHenry is mostly an owner's town. Roughly 74 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied (8,847 of 11,897), which leaves about 3,050 rented households.
If you're a landlord selling a rental, note that the city lists a Rental Registration form among its residential permits and forms. Check that yours is on file before you sell.
District 15 takes the biggest bite, and Woodstock hears the defaults
The city's own estimate shows where a bill goes. On a $300,000 home, 2025 taxes come to about $8,000. School Districts 15 and 156 take about $5,700 of that, and the city's share is about $434. Those figures use McHenry Township rates, and a small part of the city is in Nunda Township, so your bill may differ. The next general reassessment is 2027, and appeals are due within 30 days after assessments are published.
Tax year 2025 bills were due June 9 and September 9, 2026, and late amounts pick up 1.5 percent interest a month. The county's annual tax sale opens November 16, 2026. A mortgage foreclosure goes to Courtroom 202 of the county's circuit court, which hears foreclosures Monday through Thursday. The redemption deadlines after a tax sale or a foreclosure, and how to claim any surplus the Circuit Clerk holds, are on the McHenry County page, and the Illinois foreclosure timeline covers the rest.
The honest math on $306,500
Redfin's tracker put McHenry's median sale price at $306,500 in May 2026, across 44 sales, with a median 46 days on market. That was down about 4.9 percent from a year earlier, and April came in at $274,650, so the number moves. Using $306,500, commission at about 4.9 percent (Clever's Illinois average, updated September 2026) is roughly $15,000. Closing costs near 1.2 percent add about $3,700. The state stamp runs about $307 and the county stamp about $153, both customarily yours. For carrying costs, the city's roughly $8,000 estimate on a $300,000 home works out to about $670 a month in taxes alone. Two months of it puts the total near $20,500, before any repair credits.
A cash sale still pays the stamps and still needs the water form. What it can drop is the commission and the inspection back-and-forth. If the property is a fit, a cash buyer may make you an offer, and you choose the closing date. Plenty of McHenry owners list instead, and with May homes selling for about 100.5 percent of list on average, that can make sense. Run both numbers side by side.
Sources: City of McHenry, Water and Sewer Service; City of McHenry, Permits, Applications, Forms; City of McHenry, 2026 lead service line inventory; City of McHenry, Fall/Winter 2026 Newsletter; Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 housing profile for McHenry; Redfin Data Center; Clever commission survey; Saturn Title, transfer tax list; McHenry County Treasurer, your property taxes; Hebron Township Assessor; 22nd Judicial Circuit, Courtroom 202 standing order; U.S. EPA, lead disclosure
