Woodstock's final water bill gets settled at the closing table
The City tells anyone buying real estate in Woodstock to make provisions for the final water and sewer bill at closing. By local ordinance, an unpaid water and sewer bill stays a lien on the property, not the person, so a balance you leave behind sticks to the house. A typical family's bill runs $202.40 a quarter before garbage.
The City's fees and taxes page lists a bag fee, motor fuel, hotel and video gaming taxes, and no real estate transfer stamp. A title company's transfer list agrees, with no stamps required, though your own title company should confirm. The McHenry County stamp ($0.25 per $500) and the state stamp ($0.50 per $500) still apply, and the seller customarily pays both.
A quarter of Woodstock predates 1960, and another quarter went up in the 2000s
Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 count 10,846 housing units here, and the build years split. About 25 percent were built before 1960, roughly 15 percent in 1939 or earlier, and about 25 percent between 2000 and 2009. The City's garbage pickup map names areas like Historic Woodstock Square, Victorian Village, Sweetwater, Sonatas, Dakota Ridge and Savannah Grove, and its comprehensive plan mentions the Westwood Lakes and Apple Creek Estates subdivisions.
About 39 percent of units were built before 1980. For a home built before 1978, you owe the buyer the state lead brochure, the federal lead pamphlet and disclosure, and a 10-day window for a lead inspection. Around the Square sits the Downtown Business Historic District, and exterior work on a historic property there needs a Certificate of Appropriateness first, which matters if you're weighing repairs against selling as-is.
Lead service lines and the Silver Creek flood edge
Under City Code Title 6, Chapter 4, you own the water service line from the main to your house. State law requires the City to replace all lead service lines by April 15, 2042, and starting May 1, 2024 the City budgets each fiscal year to reimburse up to 60 replacements. The Illinois disclosure form asks whether you know of lead water pipes. You only disclose what you actually know, but it helps to know first.
The City says a relatively small number of properties flood from time to time, mostly near Silver Creek on the north and east sides, Apple Creek to the south, and the Kishwaukee River to the west and south. On request, it will tell you whether a property sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area.
The county courthouse sits on Seminary Avenue, in town
Woodstock is the McHenry County seat, so a foreclosure on your house is heard at the Michael J. Sullivan Judicial Center, 2200 N. Seminary Ave., in Courtroom 202, Monday through Thursday. Illinois gives you 90 days from service to reinstate, and you can redeem until the later of 7 months from service or 3 months after the judgment, and it ends before the sale. If a sale brings in more than is owed, the Circuit Clerk holds the surplus until a judge orders it paid. The Circuit Clerk's self-help center is in Room 346 (815-334-0317). The McHenry County page covers the rest.
Taxes are the other clock. The City's rate table puts the 2023 levy at a combined 9.7825 percent for property in Dorr Township, down from 11.5317 in 2018, and School District 200 is 5.8047 of it. Tax year 2025 bills were due June 9 and September 9, 2026, with 1.5 percent interest a month on late amounts, and the county tax sale opens November 16, 2026.
The honest math on Woodstock's $350,000 median
Redfin's tracker put Woodstock's median sale price at $350,000 in May 2026, across 33 sales, up about 14 percent from a year earlier, with a median 39 days on market. Homes sat a median 73 to 77 days from January through April. Using $350,000, commission at about 4.9 percent (Clever's Illinois average, updated September 2026) is roughly $17,200. Closing costs near 1.2 percent add about $4,200. The state stamp runs $350 and the county stamp $175, both customarily yours. For carrying costs, take a third of the price as assessed value, subtract the $8,000 general homestead exemption and apply the 9.7825 percent rate. That's a rough $10,600 a year, about $890 a month, plus about $67 a month in water and sewer. Two months of carrying puts the total near $24,000, before any repair credits.
A cash sale still settles the final water bill and both stamps. What it can drop is the commission, the showings and the repair haggling. If the property is a fit, a cash buyer may make you an offer, and you pick the closing date. Listing can be the better route for a house in good shape, especially with May sales closing near full list price. Run both numbers side by side.
Sources: City of Woodstock, Water and Sewer Information; City of Woodstock, Municipal Fees and Taxes; Saturn Title, transfer stamp listing; U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024, year structure built, via Census Reporter; City of Woodstock, Lead Service Lines; 22nd Judicial Circuit, Courtroom 202 standing order; 735 ILCS 5/15-1603; McHenry County Circuit Clerk, legal self-help; City of Woodstock, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report FY2024; Redfin Data Center; Clever commission survey; 35 ILCS 200/15-175, general homestead exemption
