Jeff Shin · Head of Mortgage
NMLS #1041652 · Barrett Financial Group, L.L.C. NMLS #181106

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Closing costs in Chicago: what to type before you offer

Cash to close is the down payment plus closing costs plus the prepaids, minus any credits. Type those numbers in before you write the offer, not after the inspection.

Jeff Shin, NMLS #1041652 · Sep 20, 2026 · 4 min read

Most people know their down payment. The number that surprises them at the closing table is everything stacked on top of it. In Chicago that stack has a few local lines that a national estimate leaves out. You can get close to the real figure in a few minutes if you know what to type.

What cash to close actually includes

  1. Down payment. The amount you actually plan to put in, not the minimum some program allows.
  2. Lender and title costs. Origination, appraisal, credit report, title insurance, settlement fee, recording. A rough band of two to three percent of price is a common starting point before you have a quote.
  3. Prepaids. The first year of homeowners insurance, a few months of taxes and insurance to seed the escrow account, and interest from your closing date to the end of that month.
  4. Chicago transfer tax. The city charges a transfer tax and the buyer pays the larger share. As of this writing the buyer's share is about three-quarters of one percent of price. Check the current city schedule; it can change.
  5. Condo lines. If the building has an association, expect the first month of assessments, and some buildings charge a move-in fee or a reserve contribution at closing.

Then subtract credits. The big one in Chicago is the tax proration.

The Cook County tax proration

Cook County bills property taxes in arrears. You pay this year's bill next year. So when you buy, the seller owes you for the months they owned the home but haven't been billed for yet. That shows up as a credit to you at closing, usually figured at a percentage above the last bill because bills tend to go up.

That credit can be several thousand dollars on a typical Chicago home. It reduces your cash to close. Don't count on it to cover your down payment; do count on it when you're deciding whether the number works.

One caution: a listing's "taxes" line is often last year's bill, and a sale can trigger a reassessment. Use the listing figure as a floor, not a ceiling, when you type it in.

Run it in the tool

Open the Purchase calculator /mortgage-calculator/?mode=purchase. On that screen you'll see Loan Type, Home Price, Down Payment, Credit Score, Loan Term, Target Closing Date, Starting rate assumption, Monthly HOA, Annual Property Tax, and Annual Insurance.

  1. Loan Type, Home Price, and Down Payment. Pick Conventional, FHA, or VA. Type the price you'd actually offer and the down payment you'd actually make. Don't type the list price if you plan to offer under it.
  2. Annual Property Tax. Type the annual tax from the listing, then bump it up a bit. Cook County reassesses, and new owners often see the bill rise.
  3. Annual Insurance and Monthly HOA. Type a homeowners insurance quote if you have one. For a condo, type the monthly assessment from the listing.
  4. Starting rate assumption. Use a rate from a quote you already have. Nothing here is a BankPricer rate.
  5. Credit Score, Loan Term, and Target Closing Date. Fill those so the payment timing matches your deal.

Then read the Total Monthly Payment breakdown on the same screen (principal and interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, PMI if it shows, and HOA). That is what this tool returns. It does not spit out a full cash-to-close figure. Build cash to close from the stack above (down payment, lender and title costs, prepaids, buyer transfer tax, condo lines, minus the Cook proration credit).

If cash to close comes in above what you have on hand, you have three levers before the offer: a smaller down payment, a seller credit toward closing costs written into the offer, or a lower price. Re-run Home Price and Down Payment in the tool and see which moves the monthly number enough.

If you want a second pair of eyes

Bring the screen you ran and the listing. Jeff Shin, NMLS 1041652, originates from Chicago with Barrett Financial Group, L.L.C. He can help you see which lines are firm, which ones are estimates, and how a seller credit would change the offer.

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A calculator result isn't a commitment to lend. A blog post can't lock a rate.

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Jeff Shin, NMLS 1041652. Barrett Financial Group, L.L.C. Chicago. Equal Housing Lender. Not a commitment to lend.