Selling a house in St. Louis runs in order: prepare and price the home, sign a listing agreement, go on the market, review offers, then work through inspections, the occupancy inspection, appraisal, title and the buyer's loan before closing. Plan on 30 to 45 days from accepted offer to closing, and watch the short written-notice window on municipal inspections.
Most people sell a home once or twice in a lifetime, so the process is unfamiliar by design. You are asked to make quick decisions about a contract you have never read, on a timeline someone else set, involving the largest asset you own.
This guide walks the whole thing in the order you will actually hit it, for the St. Louis metro specifically, including the local details national selling guides tend to miss.
A note on geography. In this guide, "St. Louis" means the whole metro on both sides of the river: the Missouri side and the Illinois Metro East, meaning Belleville, O'Fallon, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Fairview Heights, Collinsville and the surrounding communities in St. Clair and Madison counties. The two states differ more than most people expect, so where they diverge, I say so.
A note on the contract. Where I refer to "the area contract," I mean Form 2090, the Residential Sale Contract published by St. Louis REALTORS, the form most commonly used on the Missouri side. Everything I describe from it is a default that applies only if nothing else is written in. Every term is negotiable, amendable by addendum, and revised by the association periodically. Your contract may be a different form or a different revision.
On purpose, I do not publish the specific number of days for any of these periods. Those numbers change with the revision of the form and with whatever the two sides negotiate, and a seller who calendars a number off a website instead of off their own contract is the seller who misses the deadline. What matters is knowing the deadline exists and where to find it. Every time one comes up below, I tell you what to look for. Read your own contract, and have your agent walk you through it before you sign.
What actually happens, step by step, when you sell a house in St. Louis?
- Decide what you are solving for. Highest price, fastest close, and least disruption are three different goals that pull against each other. Naming yours first makes every later decision easier.
- Get a real read on value. A comparative market analysis built from recent, genuinely comparable sales.
- Prepare the home. Repairs, cleaning, and the small number of things that actually move the number.
- Sign a listing agreement. Terms, timeline, and how everyone gets paid, in writing.
- Go on the market. Photos, MLS, syndication, showings.
- Review offers. Price is one line in a document with many lines that cost money.
- Accept an offer, and the clocks start. Inspections, occupancy inspection, appraisal, loan, title.
- Negotiate what the inspections turn up. This is the second negotiation, and it is often larger than the first.
- Clear the path to closing. Title work, mortgage payoff, utilities, final walkthrough.
- Close. You sign, the loan funds, the proceeds come to you.
Steps 1 through 6 are the part you control. Step 7 is where the deadlines live, so it gets the longest section below.
For the overview of each stage, see the St. Louis home selling process. For everything else on selling, start at selling a home in St. Louis.
How long does it take to sell a house from start to finish?
Two clocks run and they get conflated. Time on market is how long until you have an accepted offer. Time to close is from acceptance to the money.
| Stage | Typical timeframe | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Preparing the home | 1 to 4 weeks | Condition, repairs, whether you are living in it |
| Pricing and listing paperwork | A few days | Scheduling, not complexity |
| Photos and listing build | 3 to 7 days | Photographer availability |
| On market to accepted offer | Highly variable | Price, condition, location, season |
| Inspection period | A short defined period set by the contract. Check the number on yours | Negotiated |
| Resolution of inspection items | A short defined period set by the contract. Check the number on yours | How far apart the sides are |
| Municipal occupancy inspection | Order immediately. Waits can run weeks | Which municipality, and the season |
| Appraisal and loan approval | 2 to 4 weeks, running in parallel | Lender and loan type |
| Accepted offer to closing | About 30 days nationally | Financing type and what inspections find |
On the 30 days. The National Association of REALTORS reports in its REALTORS Confidence Index that contracts typically closed in 30 days as of its June 2026 survey, unchanged from a month and a year earlier. That is national data, not local. Locally, the municipal occupancy inspection, a sewer lateral scope, and financing type routinely push it past 30, so plan for 30 to 45.
The same June 2026 survey also reports that 13 percent of contracts had delayed settlements and 6 percent were terminated in the preceding three months. Those are two separate things, and neither is a reason to panic. They are a reason to treat the deadlines below as real.
Where the local market sits right now
In St. Louis City and County, the median single-family sale price in July 2026 was $350,000, up 5.9 percent year over year. Homes went 23 days on market, flat from a year earlier, with 2.6 months of supply, up 13 percent, and sellers received 101.4 percent of list price on average.
Source: Saint Louis REALTORS Monthly Housing Report, July 2026, data from MARIS, current as of August 5, 2026. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Two caveats. Saint Louis REALTORS describes this report as covering St. Louis City and County, while the underlying MARIS report labels it the St. Louis REALTORS service area. Either way, it does not cover St. Charles County, Jefferson County, or the Illinois Metro East, and it should not be stretched to them. And it is a monthly snapshot that ages quickly, which is why the link goes to the report itself. Check the current month rather than trusting a number in an article.
What do you need to do before the house goes on the market?
Repairs and preparation
The goal is not renovation. It is removing reasons for a buyer to hesitate or discount. Deferred maintenance reads as risk, and buyers price risk higher than the repair usually costs.
Two local items are worth handling before you list rather than mid-negotiation.
The sewer lateral. The line running from your house to the public sewer is private property. MSD Project Clear states that it is the property owner's responsibility to maintain and repair it. Much of this region's infrastructure is old, and even newer homes turn up problems from construction debris.
A buyer's scope that finds a break becomes a negotiation at the worst possible moment. Getting ahead of it is cheaper than reacting to it.
If you own in the City of St. Louis, there is a repair program, and it is narrower than most owners assume. The City's Sewer Lateral Repair Program charges owners of residential property with six or fewer units a $28 fee on their real estate property taxes, with eligibility requiring those taxes be fully paid. It covers severe damage causing cave-ins in the right of way or backups in the home. It does not cover breaks in the portion of the lateral under private property, and it does not cover clearing clogs or tree roots anywhere along the line. Those two exclusions are the ones people misread.
The $28 is the City's program specifically. Other municipalities run their own under state law permitting a voter-approved annual fee of up to $50.
A lawn irrigation system. If your home has a sprinkler system attached to the public water supply, the area contract has the seller provide current backflow inspector documentation before closing, dated within a defined recent window. A stale certification is a pre-listing errand, not a closing-week scramble. Ask your agent how recent yours has to be.
More in preparing your home to sell.
Pricing
Overpricing is not a neutral experiment you can correct later. A listing that sits accumulates days on market, and buyers read that as a signal something is wrong. The first two weeks are when you have the most attention you will ever have.
Pricing your home covers how a CMA is actually built.
The listing agreement, and how everyone gets paid
The listing agreement sets the term, the price, what is included, and the compensation your brokerage receives. Read it, and ask what happens if you want out.
What changed in 2024. Offers of compensation to a buyer's broker can no longer be communicated through the MLS, effective August 17, 2024. Buyers now sign a written agreement with their agent before touring homes, and that agreement must state conspicuously that broker fees and commissions are fully negotiable and not set by law. NAR states that as a seller you can still offer compensation to a buyer's broker off of an MLS, and can still offer buyer concessions such as help with closing costs on an MLS.
One protection in the area contract worth knowing. If you agree to pay a buyer's broker, that payment is credited against what the buyer already owes their own broker, and under this form the buyer's broker is not entitled to collect more than their written agreement with the buyer provides.
One more change that is easy to miss. In March 2025 NAR introduced a policy called Multiple Listing Options for Sellers, implemented by MLSs by September 30, 2025. It creates a delayed marketing listing type, letting a seller hold back public marketing exposure for a period the local MLS sets while the listing still reaches other MLS participants. The seller signs a disclosure acknowledging they are waiving the benefits of immediate public marketing. If anyone proposes holding your listing back from the public, that disclosure is the document to read closely. Reduced exposure is a real tradeoff, not a free strategy.
Selling with an agent goes deeper on what a listing agent does and how compensation works.
What do you have to disclose when you sell?
General education only. Disclosure obligations turn on your specific facts, and the consequences of getting them wrong are legal ones. Talk to a real estate attorney about your situation.
This is the largest gap between the two sides of the river, and it is worth reading carefully in both directions.
One requirement is federal and applies identically in both states
If your home was built before 1978, federal law requires a lead-based paint disclosure. This is the most enforceable seller obligation in the transaction, and it applies to most of the older housing stock in this metro.
Under the EPA and HUD disclosure rule, before a contract is signed the seller of pre-1978 target housing must:
- Disclose any known lead-based paint and lead hazards
- Provide all available records and reports on lead in the home
- Give the buyer the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home
- Include a Lead Warning Statement in the contract
- Allow the buyer a 10-day period to conduct a lead inspection or risk assessment, unless the parties agree otherwise
- Obtain signed acknowledgments
Two things sellers rarely realize. The 10-day lead assessment period sits before the buyer is obligated under the contract, so it is earlier in the sequence than everything else in this guide. And real estate agents share responsibility for compliance, which means your agent should be raising this with you, not waiting for you to raise it. Narrow exemptions exist, including zero-bedroom units and foreclosure sales.
Missouri: no required form, but that is not the same as no duty
Missouri does not require a specific seller's disclosure form. The area contract even offers a box for providing none. That is not permission to stay quiet, and the distinction matters more than the headline.
Two narrow written disclosures are required by statute. RSMo 442.606 requires a seller who knows of prior methamphetamine production on the property to disclose it in writing, and extends that duty to premises used as a lab or storage site or that were the residence of a person convicted of certain related offenses. Separately, RSMo 442.600 states that a property's psychologically impacted status is not a fact that must be disclosed.
Beyond those, the duty comes from a different direction. Missouri's Merchandising Practices Act prohibits concealment, suppression or omission of a material fact, and its definition of merchandise expressly includes real estate. The Missouri Supreme Court confirmed in Hess v. Chase Manhattan Bank (2007) that this applies to home sales, and the same opinion describes a common-law duty to speak where one party has material information the other could not reasonably discover.
Declining the form does not remove the duty. It removes the paper trail showing you met it.
Your agent has a separate obligation that does not go away either. RSMo 339.730 requires a seller's agent to disclose all adverse material facts actually known or that should have been known. And Missouri Real Estate Commission rules state that an "as is" clause in a contract does not relieve a licensee of the requirements of RSMo 339.100.2(2), which prohibits suppression, concealment or omission of material facts.
If you are selling a condominium, you have a statutory duty most Missouri sellers do not. RSMo 448.4-109 requires a unit owner reselling a condominium to furnish the buyer the declaration, bylaws, rules, and a resale certificate covering assessments, unpaid fees, anticipated capital expenditures, reserves, financial statements, litigation and insurance.
Until it is delivered, the buyer can void the contract, and for five days after. Request it from your association the week you list. Associations are often slow, and this is a common cause of closing delays.
Illinois: disclosure is mandatory for most sellers, with real exemptions
The Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, 765 ILCS 77, requires a seller of residential real property of one to four units, including condominiums and co-ops, to complete all items in the disclosure report and deliver it to the buyer before the signing of a contract.
The report has 24 numbered statements. They begin with whether you have occupied the property in the last 12 months and whether it carries flood hazard insurance, then run through flooding and floodplain, foundation, roof, walls and windows, electrical, plumbing, well and drinking water, HVAC, fireplaces and wood stoves, septic and sewer, radon, asbestos, lead, mine subsidence and earth stability, termites, underground fuel storage tanks, boundary disputes, uncorrected code violation notices, and prior methamphetamine manufacturing.
Mine subsidence deserves its own sentence for Metro East sellers. It is on the Illinois form and Missouri has no counterpart. If your property sits over historic mining, that is a disclosure item and a title and insurance question, and it belongs before you list.
The standard is actual knowledge. You are not required to investigate or inspect in order to complete it.
Exemptions matter, in both directions. Section 15 exempts nine categories of transfer, several of which describe real sellers: transfers by a fiduciary administering an estate, guardianship or trust; transfers pursuant to court order, including dissolution of marriage and probate; transfers between co-owners; transfers to a spouse or a lineal relative; foreclosure and deed-in-lieu transfers; transfers to or from a government entity; and newly constructed property never occupied. Completing a form you were exempt from can take on liability you did not have to accept. If you inherited the house or are selling through a divorce, that is a question for your attorney before you fill anything out.
What happens if it goes wrong, in both directions. If the report is delivered after the contract is signed and discloses a material defect, the buyer may terminate within five business days of receiving it. A seller who knowingly violates the Act is liable for actual damages and court costs, with attorney's fees available at the court's discretion.
Two limits work in the seller's favor and are worth knowing. On a supplemental or corrected disclosure, the buyer can only terminate in narrow circumstances: if the seller actually knew the original was wrong, if the defect cannot be repaired before closing, or if the seller declines to agree in writing to repair it within five business days. And the right to terminate ends at conveyance.
Illinois also has a separate radon obligation. Under the Radon Awareness Act, 420 ILCS 46/10, a seller must give the buyer the state radon pamphlet and the Illinois Disclosure of Information on Radon Hazards form before the buyer is obligated under any contract. The form also requires you to state whether you know of elevated radon results and to provide any such results in your possession.
The statute is explicit that nothing in it obligates the seller to test or to mitigate. You do not have to test. If you have tested and the number was high, you do have to say so. The state agency is now IEMA-OHS, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security, though the statute still refers to IEMA. For context on why the state requires this, the Illinois Department of Public Health reports, citing an IEMA study, that 41 percent of Illinois homes tested had radon above the 4.0 pCi/L action level.
What happens when an offer comes in?
Price is the line everyone looks at. It is rarely the line that decides which offer is better.
What to read after the price:
- Financing type and pre-approval strength. A cash offer and a financed offer at the same number are not the same offer.
- Earnest money, and when it is deposited.
- The inspection period. How many days, and what happens if the buyer says nothing.
- Requested credits and concessions. A higher price with a large credit can net less than a lower price without one.
- Closing date, and whether you need occupancy after closing.
- Contingencies on the buyer selling their own home.
Three clocks under the Missouri area contract, each a short default period that applies only if nothing else is written in, and all three negotiable. Get the actual number of days for each one off the contract in front of you:
| Period | What it does | If the buyer says nothing |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection period | Buyer inspects and delivers a written inspection notice | Silence is acceptance |
| Resolution period | The two sides reach written agreement on what the inspection found | Contract terms govern |
| Insurability period | Buyer can terminate if they cannot obtain homeowner or hazard insurance | Period expires |
The insurability period is the one most sellers have never heard of. On older housing stock, and this region has plenty, it is a live risk rather than a formality.
On the Illinois side, contract mechanics come from a different form, and many Illinois contract forms include an attorney review or approval period of a few business days. The Metro East does not use the Chicago-area Multi-Board form, so do not assume a period you read about online applies to your contract. Ask what your form says before you sign.
If earnest money is ever in dispute, your broker cannot simply hand it to you. RSMo 339.105 requires a broker holding disputed escrow money to report and deliver it to the State Treasurer within 365 days of the initial projected closing date, under Missouri's unclaimed property statutes. An unresolved earnest money fight does not resolve itself quickly, which is an argument for settling it in writing.
What are the steps to selling a house after the offer is accepted?
This is the stretch where the money is, and it is the part generic guides handle in a paragraph.
1. The inspection period and the notice that follows
The buyer schedules their inspections. Here that commonly means a general home inspection plus specialty scopes: sewer lateral, radon, termite, sometimes a mechanical and gas inspection.
Under the area contract's default allocation, the buyer pays for building, termite and environmental inspections. That is a default, not a rule. An offer can shift it, and you are separately paying for municipal compliance inspections and for having the utilities on while the buyer's inspections happen.
What comes back is a written inspection notice, and then a negotiation. You can agree to repairs, offer a credit, or decline.
Two costs get mixed up here. The cost of the inspection and the cost of the repair are separate numbers. A few hundred dollars of scoping that finds a broken lateral is a small inspection bill and a much larger repair conversation.
One quiet obligation on your side: under this form the seller agrees to arrange, at the seller's expense, to have all utilities turned on during any inspection period and the walkthrough, unless they have already transferred to the buyer. If you have moved out and shut off service, you are paying to turn it back on.
2. The occupancy inspection, and the notice window that costs sellers the most
This is the deadline that costs St. Louis sellers the most money.
Many municipalities here require an occupancy inspection before anyone can move in, and then an occupancy permit. This is separate from the buyer's private home inspection. It is a code and safety check run by the city.
Two things get conflated constantly, and the area contract separates them. Under this form the seller agrees to immediately request any required compliance inspections, including municipal, conservation district or fire district inspections, at the seller's expense. The buyer pays for the municipal occupancy permit itself. Two items, two payers.
Now the window. Under this form the seller must notify the buyer in writing, within a short defined window after the Acceptance Deadline, of any violations or requirements from those inspections that the seller will not correct.
Two things to pull off your own contract, today, before anything else: the length of that window, and the Acceptance Deadline it runs from.
The Acceptance Deadline is a defined date printed on the face of the contract. It is not the same thing as the date the contract is accepted. People assume the clock starts when everyone signs. It does not. Find the actual date, count forward by whatever your contract says, and put that date on a calendar.
The stated consequence of missing that window is significant: the seller loses the ability to negotiate those violations or requirements, and must comply with all of them before closing. Flag an item in time and it becomes a negotiation, with a defined period to reach written agreement or a monetary adjustment at closing.
That is a contract term, not a law. It can be negotiated, amended, or replaced, and your contract may read differently. Have your agent walk you through the actual paragraph in the contract you sign, before you sign it.
Why this catches people: inspection wait times. In parts of the metro, occupancy inspection waits can run several weeks depending on the municipality and the season. If you wait to order the inspection, results can arrive after your window to object has already closed. Order it the day the contract is accepted.
Where the buyer is the one who must apply for the permit, this form gives them a short window after the Acceptance Deadline to do it. Their delay becomes your delay, so it is worth tracking rather than assuming.
City of St. Louis specifics. The City requires a Certificate of Inspection, triggered by the sale of an occupied structure where no certificate has been issued in the last 12 months. Per the City's residential occupancy page, procedures effective October 7, 2024: $120 for a standard application, $200 for an occupied unit without a current certificate, and $65 per additional unit at the same address under the property manager rate. The certificate is valid 12 months. Confirm current fees with the City, since municipal fee schedules change.
The City page does not identify which party to a sale is responsible for applying. Your contract and local practice settle that. Ask your agent what your contract says.
Outside the City, requirements are set municipality by municipality, and many county municipalities use St. Louis County inspections in place of running their own. Rules and fees vary, and some areas require more than one inspection. Confirm with your municipality for your address.
3. The occupancy picture on the Illinois side, city by city
Here the Metro East diverges from Missouri, and from itself. Neighboring cities have opposite rules.
| City | Required at sale or change of occupancy? | Who applies | Fee | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belleville | Yes. Permit required before anyone occupies, including moving furniture in | Incoming occupant or new owner; owner or agent schedules | $55 permit plus $65 per dwelling unit for the inspection. $50 reinspection | City advises scheduling at least 3 weeks ahead |
| O'Fallon, IL | Yes. Unlawful to occupy without complying | The owner or their agent | $75, effective May 1, 2025 | Application at least 7 days before title transfer |
| Collinsville | Yes. Required when occupancy or ownership changes | The seller initiates before transfer. An "As-Is" form both parties sign can shift corrections to the buyer | $50 covers two inspections; third $35; no-show $35 | Call within 7 days of application; inspection within 30 days |
| Fairview Heights | Yes. Applies to rental and owner-occupied property; the city ties the update to a change in tenancy | Owner or manager | $50 per the Illinois REALTORS 2024 handout; not published on the city page | Not published |
| Edwardsville | No point-of-sale inspection for single-family resale. Rental registration is a separate program | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Glen Carbon | No point-of-sale inspection for owner-occupied resale. Village occupancy permitting is tied to rental housing | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Troy | Does not appear to require one for single-family resale. Confirm with the city | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Sources: Belleville process sheet and Belleville Code 154.15; O'Fallon Code 150.05, fee increase reported by the O'Fallon Weekly, February 2025; Collinsville Residential Occupancy Program; Fairview Heights permits; Edwardsville rental registration; Glen Carbon Village Code 9-3-6; cross-checked against the Illinois REALTORS municipal inspection handout, May 2024.
The point of that table is the split, not the fees. Three of the largest Metro East cities plus Fairview Heights require an inspection tied to sale or change of occupancy. Edwardsville and Glen Carbon do not, for a normal owner-occupied resale. You cannot pattern-match from the city next door.
Municipal rules change without much notice, and fees change more often than the rules. Treat the table as a starting point and confirm with your city for your address. Where a figure could not be confirmed from the city itself, that is noted in the row.
4. Appraisal and the buyer's loan
If the buyer is financing, the lender orders an appraisal. If it comes in below the contract price, that is a new negotiation: the buyer brings more cash, you reduce the price, you meet somewhere, or the deal ends.
Meanwhile the loan moves through underwriting. You are a passenger on this part, but your agent should not be. Ask when the loan commitment date is, and make sure it does not fall past the closing date.
One flag if your buyer asks for a monetary adjustment instead of repairs: the area contract notes that an adjustment may affect the terms of the buyer's loan and their ability to obtain an occupancy permit. A credit is not always the frictionless option it looks like.
5. Title, survey, and defects along the way
The title company runs a title search. If the contract terminates because of unresolved title or survey objections, this form has the seller reimburse the buyer's cost for title, survey, inspections and appraisal. That is a reason to deal with known title issues before listing.
Under this form the seller also agrees to clear defects arising between contract acceptance and closing. A lien filed during the contract period lands on your side.
One decision worth understanding before you make it casually. If you close at a different title company than the buyer, or one that does not share a common underwriter with the buyer's, this form requires you to sign a Notice of Closing or Settlement Risk acknowledging your settlement funds are not protected by the title insurance underwriter. You can close wherever you want. Know what you are signing when you do.
On the Illinois side, add an attorney. Illinois REALTORS, citing the state Supreme Court's Quinlan & Tyson decision, states that REALTORS should not modify a contract or draft their own legal forms or addendums, because that is the practice of law in Illinois. The Illinois State Bar Association recommends hiring a real estate attorney before signing documents related to your sale, and describes the attorney arranging the closing, attending it, and reviewing and prorating your real estate taxes.
Attorney fees for a residential closing are set by the individual attorney, not by any state schedule. Most quote a flat fee. Ask for it up front.
6. Your disclosure duty does not stop at signing
Under the area contract, the Seller's Disclosure Statement is expressly not incorporated into the terms of the contract. But by signing, the seller confirms the information in it is accurate as of the contract date, and agrees to fully and promptly disclose in writing any new material information about the property discovered at any time prior to closing.
That is a continuing duty running the length of the contract. The roof starts leaking in week three, you put it in writing.
Also worth handling before you list: if any portion of the property sits in a designated 100-year flood plain, this form gives the buyer a right to terminate unless it was disclosed to them in writing prior to the contract.
7. If you still have a mortgage: the payoff statement
Your loan is not paid off at your current balance. Request a payoff statement from your lender or servicer. The CFPB explains that the payoff amount includes interest owed through the day you intend to pay off the loan, plus any fees charged and not yet paid, and possibly a prepayment penalty.
Daily interest keeps accruing until the payoff date, which is why the number is quoted as of a specific date and why a delayed closing changes it. The title company or closing attorney orders it. Make sure it was ordered early.
What does a St. Louis seller actually pay at closing?
| Cost | Missouri | Illinois Metro East |
|---|---|---|
| State and county transfer tax | None | About 0.15% of price. $0.50 per $500 state plus $0.25 per $500 county. Roughly $525 on a $350,000 sale. Seller pays by custom |
| Municipal transfer tax | None | None found in the Metro East cities checked. Confirm with your municipality |
| Municipal compliance or occupancy inspection fees | Seller, per the area contract | Varies. Roughly $50 to $120 where required |
| Municipal occupancy permit | Buyer, per the area contract default. Negotiable | Often bundled with the inspection above |
| Building, termite, environmental inspections | Buyer, per the area contract default | Contract-dependent |
| Title company charges | Split by custom | Split by custom |
| Real estate broker compensation | Seller, per a separate written agreement | Seller, per a separate written agreement |
| Property tax proration | Prorated to closing; seller pays the last day | Seller credits the buyer. Often a large number. See below |
| Attorney fee | Uncommon | Common. Flat fee, set by the attorney |
| Utilities during inspections and walkthrough | Seller, per the area contract | Contract-dependent |
| Agreed repairs | Seller | Contract-dependent |
On Missouri's transfer tax. Missouri sellers do not pay a state real estate transfer tax. In November 2010 voters added Article X, Section 25 to the state constitution, effective December 2, 2010, preventing the state, counties and other political subdivisions from imposing any new tax on the sale or transfer of homes or other real estate. That is a ban on creating one going forward, and none was in place when it passed.
On Illinois transfer stamps. The state rate is 50 cents per $500 of value and the county rate 25 cents per $500, collected by the county recorder before recording. Neither statute names the seller as the payer. Illinois REALTORS lists the payer as "Either; Seller customary" in a chart current as of January 2018, so it is custom and it is negotiable. Illinois has also moved to electronic transfer stamps and MyDec filing, so the picture of a physical stamp on a deed is aging out.
On Illinois property taxes, this is the big one for Metro East sellers. Illinois assesses property for one year and bills for it the next. The Illinois Department of Revenue describes a two-year cycle: value assigned as of January 1 in year one, bills calculated and mailed in year two, generally by May 1 of the year after the assessment year.
What that means when you sell: the taxes for the period you owned the home have not been billed yet, and the buyer will get that bill later. So you credit the buyer at closing for your share, typically January 1 through the closing date, calculated from the most recent available bill. Your contract controls the method and your attorney or closer runs the number.
This is not a small line. It can be one of the largest single items on a Metro East seller's settlement statement, and Missouri sellers crossing the river are rarely expecting it.
One more wrinkle affecting which installments are outstanding at closing: St. Clair County bills in two installments while Madison County bills in four. Two adjacent counties, two schedules.
Who pays what is ultimately set by your contract. The CFPB makes the same point: depending on the contract or state law, the seller may end up paying some of these costs. The table above is the default, not a rule.
Getting to your own number
Every cost above comes out of your proceeds, and the only figure that matters to you is what lands in your account. If you want to work that out for your situation, the St. Louis seller net calculator runs it with your numbers.
Do you owe taxes when you sell your house?
General education only. This is not tax advice, and your situation decides the answer. Talk to a CPA.
Many people selling a primary residence owe nothing on the gain, because of the exclusion under Section 121 of the tax code. The IRS states you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or up to $500,000 on a joint return, if you meet the ownership and use tests.
Two things commonly break that assumption, and both are common here. If the home was ever a rental, gain attributable to depreciation is not excludable and is taxed separately. And periods of non-residential use after 2008 can reduce the exclusion. If the house was ever rented out, do not assume the exclusion covers you.
One reporting note: if you receive a Form 1099-S for the sale, you must report the sale on your return even if the entire gain is excludable.
One more document you will sign. At closing, U.S. sellers provide a certification of non-foreign status, sometimes called a FIRPTA affidavit, stating under penalties of perjury that the seller is not a foreign person. It is routine.
What is closing day actually like?
Shorter for you than for the buyer.
You may be able to sign early. Sellers are not required to wait for closing day. A buyer using financing generally must sign on closing day; a cash buyer can often sign early. If closing day is inconvenient, ask.
The buyer does a final walkthrough shortly before closing, confirming the home is in the agreed condition and that promised repairs were made. Leave the utilities on for it.
You sign, the loan funds, and the proceeds come to you. Your settlement statement shows everything due to you, everything due from you, the prorations, and the cash to seller at the bottom. The CFPB publishes sample closing forms if you want to see the layout in advance. Read yours before you sign, and ask about any line you do not recognize.
One scheduling note. Aim for the middle of the week. Tuesday through Thursday leaves working days on both sides to absorb a problem, instead of hitting a weekend with a stalled wire.
What are the mistakes that cost St. Louis sellers the most?
- Missing the municipal inspection notice window. It converts a negotiation into an obligation to fix everything the city found.
- Ordering the occupancy inspection late. Waits can run weeks. A late result is the same as no result if your window closed.
- Skipping the lead-based paint disclosure on a pre-1978 home. It is federal, it applies in both states, and it is the most enforceable obligation in the transaction.
- Overpricing the first two weeks. You get the market's full attention once.
- Treating the highest price as the best offer. Credits, contingencies and financing type all move the net.
- Going quiet after signing. The Missouri contract creates a continuing duty to disclose new material information through closing.
- Not knowing the Illinois property tax credit is coming. It can be thousands of dollars and is far easier to plan for than to absorb at the table.
More in common seller mistakes.
Selling a house is mostly a sequence of deadlines. If you want to talk through your situation, no pressure and no obligation, reach out.
Saleh Ihmoud, REALTOR®
Licensed in the State of Missouri and the State of Illinois.
Missouri: Elevate Realty, 16141 Swingley Ridge Rd #201, Chesterfield, MO 63017, (314) 947-3137
Illinois: Elevate Illinois Realty, 6 Ginger Creek Village Drive, Suite A, Glen Carbon, IL 62034, (618) 343-5444
Equal Housing Opportunity.
A note on accuracy: this guide is general education, researched from primary and official sources and current as of August 2026. It is not legal, tax, lending, or insurance advice. Contract terms, municipal rules, fees and laws change and vary by situation, so treat these as starting points and confirm the specifics for your property with your agent, attorney, or CPA. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. See our full disclosures.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays for the occupancy inspection when you sell a house in St. Louis?
Under the Missouri area contract's default, the seller agrees to request required compliance inspections at the seller's expense, and the buyer pays for the municipal occupancy permit itself. Those are two separate items that get conflated constantly. In the Illinois Metro East it varies by city: Collinsville's program has the seller initiate before transfer, while O'Fallon's ordinance puts the application on the owner. Because the exact obligation depends on your contract and your municipality, confirm both for your specific address.
What is the Acceptance Deadline in the St. Louis area sales contract?
It is a defined date written on the face of the contract, and it is not the same as the date the contract is actually accepted. It matters because several deadlines are measured from it, including the seller's written-notice window on municipal inspection items and the buyer's window to apply for an occupancy permit. Find it on your contract and calendar the dates that run from it.
Does Edwardsville or Glen Carbon require an occupancy inspection when you sell?
Not for a normal owner-occupied single-family resale. Both have occupancy permitting tied to rental housing rather than to a sale. That puts them opposite Belleville, O'Fallon, Collinsville and Fairview Heights, which do require an inspection tied to sale or a change of occupancy. Municipal rules change, so confirm with the city.
Do I have to fill out a seller's disclosure in Missouri?
No specific form is required by Missouri law, and the area contract even has a box for providing none. The duty to disclose is a separate question, and there the answer is yes. Missouri's Merchandising Practices Act covers real estate and prohibits concealing or omitting a material fact, the Missouri Supreme Court confirmed it applies to home sales in Hess v. Chase Manhattan Bank, and federal law separately requires lead-based paint disclosure on most homes built before 1978. Skipping the form does not skip the duty.
What does an Illinois Metro East seller pay that a Missouri seller does not?
Two items stand out. Illinois charges state and county transfer stamps totaling $0.75 per $500 of value, about 0.15 percent of the price, customarily paid by the seller; Missouri has none. And because Illinois bills property taxes a year behind, the Illinois seller credits the buyer at closing for taxes accrued during their ownership that have not been billed yet, which can be substantial. An attorney fee is also standard practice on the Illinois side and uncommon on the Missouri side.