Oswego's $3 stamp belongs to the buyer, but your house gets checked first
Oswego voters approved a local transfer tax. The rate is $3 for every $1,000 of the sale price, and the village code puts that bill on the buyer, not you. Still, no deed for Oswego property can be recorded in Kendall or Will County without a village stamp or exemption stamp, and the village won't issue one until the house clears a check.
That check looks for code violations never fixed, permit work that never got a final inspection, and unpaid inspection or license fees. If the house fails, the stamp is held unless the buyer signs an agreement to fix everything within 60 days and the owner or seller pays the outstanding fees and fines. Building code fines, property maintenance invoices and liens on the property all have to be paid before any stamp issues, even a "no tax due" one. An old deck permit you forgot to close can hold up a closing.
Unpaid water has to clear before the stamp
At stamp time the village checks for unpaid water and sewer charges. The village code lets a buyer sign a statement accepting open charges, but the village's 2023 stamp page asked for a Statement of Open Accounts to be paid in full, with the MyDec or PTAX-203 filed at least three business days before closing. Plan on paying the balance.
A 2002 median build year
Oswego's housing is young. The Census's 2020 to 2024 estimates give a median build year of 2002 across 12,440 units. About 45 percent went up between 2000 and 2009, and only about 5.6 percent are older than 1960. Owners live in nearly 88 percent of the occupied homes. With so much built in one decade, your house may be competing with near-twins a few streets over.
Selling anything from before 1978 brings lead rules into play: hand the buyer the EPA lead pamphlet, disclose any lead paint you know of, and give them 10 days to have the house tested. Check the flood map too. FEMA's current maps here date from 2014, and some properties still shown in the flood hazard area hold letters of map change that can spare a buyer mandatory flood insurance. Find that letter before a lender asks.
Three townships, two counties, one Yorkville courthouse
Most of Oswego sits in Kendall County, across Oswego and Bristol townships, with a small slice in Wheatland Township in Will County. Kendall mails one bill in May, payable in two installments (June 4 and September 4 in 2025), and a late installment is charged 1.5 percent a month. Unpaid taxes go to the county's annual tax sale, held October 27, 2025.
A foreclosure on a Kendall County house is heard at the courthouse in Yorkville, part of the 23rd Judicial Circuit. The Kendall court opened 234 new foreclosure cases in 2023. Within 90 days of service, paying what's past due plus costs reinstates the loan. Redemption runs to whichever comes later, 7 months after service or 3 months after judgment, and the sale can't happen until that runs out. Read the Illinois foreclosure timeline for the full sequence, or the Kendall County overview for towns nearby.
The math on Oswego's $403,500 median
Redfin's May 2026 median sale price for Oswego was $403,500 across 52 sales. April's was $370,000, so single months swing. A commission near 4.9 percent (Clever's Illinois average, updated September 2026) is about $19,800. Closing costs near 1.2 percent add about $4,800. The state and county transfer taxes (50 cents and 25 cents per $500) come to about $605, and sellers usually pay those by custom, though it's negotiable. Oswego's own stamp, about $1,200 here, stays with the buyer.
Kendall County's median tax bill is about $7,651 a year, and Oswego's median home in May spent 49 days on the market. That's roughly $1,000 in taxes before the closing period even starts. Add it up and you're around $26,000 out, before your mortgage payoff or any repairs a buyer asks for. If the property is a fit, a cash buyer may make an offer, you pick the closing date, and there's no commission, though the stamp check and any open water bill still have to clear. Listing is a perfectly good route too. Run both numbers before you decide.
Sources: Village of Oswego Code, Ch. 39 Real Estate Transfer Tax; Village of Oswego, Real Estate Transfer Stamp page (2023 archive); Census Reporter, Oswego profile; U.S. EPA, lead disclosure; Village of Oswego, Flood Insurance Rate Maps; Kendall County Treasurer, tax due dates; Illinois Courts, 2023 Annual Report Statistical Summary; Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, Article XV foreclosure; Redfin Data Center; Clever, average commission survey; Clever, Illinois transfer taxes; Census Reporter, Kendall County real estate taxes
