Seller Closing Costs in Texas: What You Actually Pay in 2026

Seller closing costs in Texas usually land between 1% and 3% of the sale price before you count commission, and that range is low for one reason: Texas charges no state or local real estate transfer tax. On the $340,000 statewide median, the owner’s title policy runs exactly $1,966 under the rate table that took effect March 1, 2026.

I want to start with the part almost every other guide to this topic skips.

Most of what a Texas seller pays at closing is not an estimate. It’s a published number. The owner’s title policy, normally the biggest non-commission line on a Texas settlement statement, is set by the Texas Department of Insurance, not by the title company. Every title company in the state charges the identical basic premium on the same sale price. So when a calculator tells you title will be “roughly $2,000,” it’s guessing at something you can look up and calculate to the dollar in about ninety seconds.

That’s what this piece does. Real rows from the real rate table, plus the Texas-specific costs that actually move the number, and the one line that dwarfs all of them combined.

What seller closing costs in Texas add up to on a median sale

Texas REALTORS put the statewide median sales price at $340,000 in Q2 2026, on 99,688 closed sales, with homes sitting a median of 65 days and inventory at 5.4 months. That’s the number I’ll run everything against. Here’s the full picture of seller closing costs in Texas at that price, and I’ve flagged which lines are fixed and which genuinely vary, because the difference matters when you’re building a net sheet.

Look at where the money is. Every fixed line on that table put together comes to about two thousand dollars. The commission line is five times all of them combined. I’ll come back to that.

Sellers moving from the East Coast are usually braced for a deed tax. In Maryland or DC or New Jersey, transfer and recordation taxes are a real percentage of the sale price and they land squarely on the seller. Texas doesn’t have that. The Comptroller’s list of every tax the state administers has no line for a real estate transfer tax, deed tax, or documentary stamp, and no Texas county or city layers one on top.

What that means in practice: a seller in DC hands over 1.1% or 1.45% of the price at the closing table by statute. A Texas seller at the same price hands over nothing. On $340,000 that’s a $3,740 difference before anyone has touched title or escrow. Texas gets its revenue from property tax instead, which is exactly why the proration line further down this page hits so much harder here than it does in most states.

The owner’s title policy is the one cost you can calculate exactly

Here’s the thing nobody tells first-time Texas sellers. Title insurance in Texas is a promulgated rate. The Department of Insurance publishes a basic premium schedule, and every underwriter in the state uses it. Shopping title companies on premium price is pointless, because the premium is the same everywhere. Shop them on escrow fees and service instead.

For any policy over $100,000, TDI’s current schedule, effective March 1, 2026, spells out four steps: find your policy range, subtract the range’s base, multiply by the rate, add the fixed amount. In the $100,001 to $1,000,000 band you subtract $100,000, multiply by 0.00494, and add $780.

So on the $340,000 median: $240,000 × 0.00494 = $1,186, plus $780, equals $1,966. Run it at your own price:

And a detail worth knowing if you sold a Texas house a couple of years ago and think you already know this number: the rates came down. Under the previous schedule the same band multiplied by 0.00527 and added $832. TDI’s own worked example on a $268,500 policy shows the difference plainly, $1,720 then versus $1,612 now. At the state median it’s a $131 saving you get without doing anything. Small, but it’s real, and every “average closing costs in Texas” article still floating around Google is quoting the old table.

Who pays for the owner’s policy is a contract term, not a law. In most of Texas the custom is that the seller buys it for the buyer, which is why it shows up in nearly every discussion of seller closing costs in Texas. It’s negotiable, and in a slower market I’ve watched plenty of sellers agree to it without ever realizing it was on the table. For the national picture, our breakdown of what title insurance actually costs goes deeper.

Property tax proration is the line that blindsides Texas sellers

This is the one I get the most panicked emails about, and it barely registers in the top-ranking guides.

Texas property taxes are paid in arrears. The Comptroller’s office is blunt about the schedule: “In most cases, you must pay your property taxes by Jan. 31,” and “Taxes that remain unpaid on Feb. 1 are considered delinquent,” at which point a six percent penalty plus one percent interest attaches, climbing to a 12 percent penalty on July 1.

Since the bill for 2026 isn’t due until January 2027, a seller closing mid-year hasn’t paid anything toward the taxes they’ve been racking up all year. So at closing you credit the buyer for your share of the year. Say your annual tax bill is $6,800 and you close on September 30. You’ve owned the place for 273 of the 365 days, so roughly $5,086 comes off your proceeds.

That single line is two and a half times the title policy, which makes it the largest of the seller closing costs in Texas once you set commission aside. Texas has no income tax and some of the highest effective property tax rates in the country, which is precisely why this proration is bigger here than in most states, and why closing in early January nets you a very different number than closing in late December. If you’re mapping out your bottom line, build a seller net sheet before you list, not after you’re under contract.

What Dallas sellers deal with that the statewide figures miss

Statewide medians are useful for math and useless for a specific street. A few things about seller closing costs in Texas are particular to selling in Dallas.

Your listing goes into NTREIS, the North Texas Real Estate Information System, which is the MLS covering Dallas, Collin, Denton, Tarrant and the surrounding counties. It’s a different system from HAR in Houston, ACTRIS in Austin, or SABOR in San Antonio, and a Texas seller occasionally discovers at the worst moment that the “MLS” they were promised was the wrong one for their county. If you’re listing in Dallas County, confirm the listing lands in NTREIS. That’s what our flat fee MLS listing service in Dallas puts you on.

Recording fees are set by the county clerk, not the state. Dallas County’s schedule charges $25 for the first page of a real property document ($5 recording, $10 records preservation, $10 archiving) and $4 for every page after. A seller normally pays to record the release of the lien on their old mortgage, so that’s a $30 to $50 line item, not a $300 one. Neighboring counties set their own fees, so check yours rather than assuming Dallas rates apply in Collin or Tarrant.

DFW also has HOAs on a scale most of the state doesn’t. The resale certificate and transfer fees are set by the association or its management company, and they’re one of the few Texas seller costs I can’t give you a number for, because they range from trivial to several hundred dollars depending on who manages the community. Ask for the fee schedule the week you decide to sell. Not the week you go under contract.

Commission isn’t a closing cost, it’s a decision

Everything above totals around $2,000 in fixed costs plus a proration you control by picking your closing date. Then there’s the listing commission, and it is not in the same universe.

At the $340,000 median, a 3% listing-side commission is $10,200. At 2.5% it’s $8,500. A full 6% across both sides is $20,400, which is six percent of a house handed over for a service you can buy separately.

The rate isn’t fixed by anyone. NAR’s own settlement materials state that compensation “is not set by law and is fully negotiable,” and offers of compensation can no longer be published on the MLS. Plenty of Texas sellers still sign a 3% listing agreement because nobody told them the number was a starting point.

That $10,105 is not a projection or a marketing average. It’s one line on a settlement statement minus another. You still owe the title policy, you still owe the proration, you still owe the recording fee, because those are the actual seller closing costs in Texas and no listing route makes them disappear. What changes is whether you hand a brokerage ten thousand dollars to put your house on NTREIS.

If you want the full statewide walkthrough of that route, start with our flat fee MLS listing in Texas page, or the national flat fee MLS listing guide if you’re comparing services.

One thing selling without a listing agent will not do is shrink your paperwork. Texas requires a Seller’s Disclosure Notice on previously occupied single-family homes, carrying the information Section 5.008 of the Texas Property Code demands about material facts and the physical condition of the property. TREC’s current version of the form is 55-1, effective 05/28/2026, and it applies to contracts entered into on or after September 1, 2023.

Fill it out carefully. It’s the single most common source of post-closing disputes I see in Texas, and “I didn’t know” is a much weaker position than “I disclosed it.” We’ve broken the form down field by field in our guide to the Texas seller’s disclosure, and the wider stack of documents needed to sell a house in Texas covers what else the title company will ask you for.

FAQ: seller closing costs in Texas

Who pays closing costs in Texas, the buyer or the seller?
Both, on different lines. The buyer carries the lender-driven costs: origination, appraisal, the lender’s title policy, prepaid interest and escrows. The seller typically carries the owner’s title policy, the release of lien recording, their share of escrow fees, the property tax proration and any commission. None of it is fixed by law, and all of it is a contract term you can negotiate. Our national breakdown of who pays closing costs goes line by line.

Does Texas have a real estate transfer tax?
No. Texas charges no state, county or city real estate transfer tax, deed tax or documentary stamp tax, and none appears on the Comptroller’s list of taxes the state administers. This is one of the main reasons seller closing costs in Texas run lower than in states like Maryland, New Jersey or Washington, where transfer taxes alone can cost a seller thousands.

How much is the owner’s title policy on a Texas home sale?
It’s set by the state, so it’s identical at every title company. For policies between $100,001 and $1,000,000 under the schedule effective March 1, 2026, subtract $100,000 from the price, multiply by 0.00494, and add $780. On a $340,000 sale that’s $1,966. On $500,000 it’s $2,756. Shopping title companies won’t change this number, though escrow fees do vary.

How do Texas property taxes get split at closing?
Texas taxes are billed in arrears and due by January 31, becoming delinquent February 1. So when you sell mid-year, you credit the buyer for the days you owned the home that year and they pay the full bill later. On a $6,800 annual bill, closing September 30 means about $5,086 comes off your proceeds. It’s often the largest of the seller closing costs in Texas after commission, and your closing date controls it.

Do I still need a seller’s disclosure if I sell my Texas house myself?
Yes. The obligation attaches to the seller, not to whether a broker is involved. TREC form 55-1, effective 05/28/2026, carries the Section 5.008 disclosures for previously occupied single-family homes. Selling for sale by owner changes who markets the house, not what you’re required to tell the buyer.

Can a flat fee MLS listing lower my seller closing costs in Texas?
It doesn’t touch the fixed costs. Title, recording and the tax proration are the same either way. What it replaces is the listing commission: $95 to get on NTREIS or your local MLS instead of roughly $10,200 at 3% on the state median. You’d still decide separately what, if anything, to offer a buyer’s agent, and since the NAR settlement that offer can’t be advertised on the MLS anyway.

The bottom line on seller closing costs in Texas

Texas is a genuinely cheap state to sell a house in, right up until the commission line. No transfer tax. A title premium the state publishes so you can check it yourself. Recording fees measured in tens of dollars. The two numbers that actually decide your net are the ones people pay least attention to: which month you close, and what you agree to pay for a listing.

Pick your closing date with the tax proration in front of you. Then look hard at that $10,200 and ask what you’re getting for it. On a $340,000 house in Dallas or anywhere else in Texas, $95 puts you on the same MLS the 3% listing would have.