Illinois-specific from day one
Three-layer transfer tax
State, county and municipal stamps calculated for the specific town you are closing in.
Local SEO statewide
Rank in Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will and Kane counties.
Attorney-aware intake
Order forms that fit the attorney-review custom in the Chicago market.
Built for Illinois closings
Illinois stacks its real estate transfer tax in up to three layers — state, county, and in many places a municipal stamp as well. That is the single most common source of wrong closing estimates in the state, and it is entirely avoidable.
Illinois practice also involves attorneys far more than most title states, particularly in the Chicago metropolitan area where attorney review is customary on residential contracts. Your website is talking to attorneys and Realtors at least as much as to consumers.
- State transfer tax at $0.50 per $500 of consideration
- County transfer tax at $0.25 per $500
- Municipal transfer stamps configured for the towns you close in
- Attorney-aware order intake and document exchange
- Local SEO for your Illinois county and city
- Seller net sheets accurate to Illinois closings
The municipal stamp is what breaks Illinois calculators
The first two layers of Illinois transfer tax are straightforward and statewide: the state imposes $0.50 per $500 of consideration, and counties impose $0.25 per $500. Together that is $0.75 per $500, and any calculator can handle it.
The third layer is the problem. Many Illinois municipalities impose their own transfer stamp, the rates vary widely from town to town, and some municipalities place the burden on the buyer while others place it on the seller. A calculator that stops at the state and county layers will understate a closing in every town that levies a stamp, and it will put the charge on the wrong party in some of them.
So an Illinois build has to be configured municipality by municipality for the towns you actually close in. Ask any website vendor how they handle municipal transfer stamps — it is the fastest way to tell whether their Illinois product is real or a national template with the state name changed.
Attorney review changes who your website is for
Residential contracts in the Chicago area customarily include an attorney review period, and attorneys are involved in the transaction in a way they are not in most title states. That means a meaningful share of your order flow is routed by lawyers rather than by Realtors or consumers.
Build for that. An attorney wants to order a title commitment without a phone call, get a clean copy delivered where they expect it, and reach someone who can clear an exception before the closing date. Those capabilities matter far more to your order volume than consumer-facing content does.
Common questions
Are the calculators accurate for Illinois?
Yes — we configure all three layers: the state tax at $0.50 per $500, the county tax at $0.25 per $500, and the municipal transfer stamp for the specific towns you close in, including which party customarily pays.
What is the Illinois real estate transfer tax?
The state imposes $0.50 per $500 of consideration and counties impose $0.25 per $500. Many municipalities levy an additional stamp at their own rate, which varies considerably by town.
How do you handle municipal transfer stamps?
We configure them per municipality rather than applying a statewide default, because rates differ by town and some municipalities assign the charge to the buyer rather than the seller.
Is the site built for attorneys as well as Realtors?
Yes. Attorney review is customary on Chicago-area residential contracts, so we build order intake and document delivery around attorney workflows as well as Realtor referrals.
Can you target my specific Illinois county?
Yes — we build county and city pages for the markets you close in, from Cook and DuPage to downstate counties.
State and county transfer tax rates per the Illinois Department of Revenue. Municipal stamp rates are set locally and vary widely — verify your municipality before relying on any figure.
Related pages
Website Design →
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Calculators →
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Local SEO →
Rank in the counties you close in.
We build for title agencies in all 50 states. Largest Illinois markets we work in: Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will and Kane counties.