What It Costs to Sell a House in Connecticut

Quick answer: Connecticut sellers pay a conveyance tax, an attorney to close, the commission they agreed to in the listing contract, and a handful of small payoff and recording charges. The conveyance tax and the closing attorney are fixed costs of doing business in this state. The commission is the one line you actually control.

The costs every Connecticut seller pays

Five items show up on nearly every seller's closing statement in Connecticut:

• State and municipal conveyance tax — paid by the seller when the deed is recorded

• Closing attorney — Connecticut requires an attorney to conduct the closing, so this is not optional

• Real estate commission — whatever you agreed to in writing when you signed the listing

• Mortgage payoff, release and recording fees — your remaining loan balance plus the cost of recording the release

• Prorated property taxes — your share of the town's tax year up to the closing date

Everything else — staging, repairs, a pre-listing inspection, a cleanout — is a choice, not a requirement.

How the Connecticut conveyance tax works

The conveyance tax has two parts: a state portion and a municipal portion. For residential property, the state portion is 0.75% on the first $800,000 of the sale price, 1.25% on the portion between $800,000 and $2.5 million, and 2.25% on anything above $2.5 million. The municipal portion is 0.25% in most towns, though a short list of designated communities can charge up to 0.5% — worth confirming for your town before you assume a number.

A few examples, using the standard 0.25% municipal rate:

• $350,000 sale: $2,625 state + $875 municipal = $3,500

• $450,000 sale: $3,375 state + $1,125 municipal = $4,500

• $1,000,000 sale: $8,000 on the first $800,000, then $3,000 on the next $200,000 = $11,000

The tax is due at recording, so it comes out of your proceeds at the closing table rather than out of pocket. Some transfers are exempt. Your closing attorney is the right person to confirm whether yours is.

The attorney, the payoff and the small stuff

Connecticut is an attorney closing state, which means a licensed attorney has to handle the closing itself. Sellers generally hire their own attorney to review the contract, clear title issues, order the payoff and attend the closing. Fees are set by the firm, not by statute, so ask for a flat quote up front — most real estate attorneys will give you one.

Beyond that, expect the payoff of any mortgage or home equity line, the recording fee for the release of that mortgage, and a property tax proration. If you have an outstanding lien, an old second mortgage that was never released, or an estate in the chain of title, deal with it early. Title problems discovered two weeks before closing are the single most common reason a Connecticut sale slips.

The commission is the negotiable part

Real estate commissions are negotiable and always have been. A traditional listing side runs somewhere in the 2.5%-3% range in most of Connecticut. Our listing fee is 1% of the sale price plus a small transaction fee, with the same marketing, pricing work and negotiation a full-service listing includes.

On a $450,000 sale, the difference between a 1% listing fee and a 2.5% listing fee is roughly $6,750 — real money that stays in your pocket, on top of a conveyance tax bill you cannot avoid. See how the 1% listing program works for the full breakdown.

Buyer-side compensation is a separate decision now. Since August 2024, it is negotiated directly rather than advertised through the MLS, and sellers choose whether to offer a concession at all. We cover that in who pays the buyer's agent in Connecticut now.

Costs that are optional - and which ones pay back

Sellers routinely spend money before listing that they never recover. The spending that tends to earn its keep is unglamorous: a deep clean, decluttering, fresh paint in the rooms that need it, landscaping cleanup, and fixing anything that will obviously fail an inspection. Full kitchen and bath remodels done specifically to sell rarely return what they cost.

If your house needs more work than you want to take on, selling in its current condition is a legitimate strategy — see selling a house as-is in Connecticut.

Run your own numbers

Every sale is specific. The way to know your actual net is to start with a realistic price, subtract the conveyance tax, your payoff, the attorney and the commission you agreed to, and look at what is left.

Start with a real valuation on our home value page, or reach out directly and we will build you a line-by-line net sheet for your property before you commit to anything.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Conveyance tax rules, exemptions and municipal rates change — confirm the current figures for your town with your closing attorney.