CT Closing Costs: What Buyers and Sellers Pay

Who pays what: buyer and seller closing costs in CT

Most of what a buyer pays at a Connecticut closing is the cost of borrowing and of making sure the title is clean. Most of what a seller pays is tax and the payoff of the old mortgage. A typical financed purchase looks like this:

The buyer usually pays

• Lender charges: origination, processing and underwriting, plus the appraisal and credit report. They are itemized on your Loan Estimate.
• Your attorney’s fee, the title search, and the lender’s title insurance policy. An owner’s policy, which protects you rather than the lender, is optional and worth pricing.
• Town clerk recording fees for the deed and the mortgage (figures below).
• Prepaid interest from the closing day to the end of the month, and the first year of homeowners insurance, plus flood insurance where the lender requires it.
• Initial deposits into the escrow account for property tax and insurance, and a condo or association’s fees where there is one.

The seller usually pays

• The state and municipal real estate conveyance tax, collected by the town clerk when the deed is recorded.
• The seller’s attorney, the payoff of any existing mortgage, and the real estate commission.
• Any credit the seller agreed to give the buyer toward closing costs in the contract.

Attorney closings in Connecticut

Connecticut closes with lawyers, not title companies. Your attorney reviews the purchase contract, orders the title search, clears anything that turns up (an old mortgage that was never released, a lien, a boundary question), prepares or reviews the closing documents, collects and disburses the money, and records the deed and the mortgage with the town clerk. In most purchases I close, the buyer’s attorney also handles the closing for the lender, so one office runs the table.

Attorney fees are not set by the state. Most residential closings are a flat fee that covers the contract review and the closing, with the title search and title insurance billed separately. Ask what the fee includes before you hire, and get it in writing. Wire your cash to close only after you confirm the instructions by phone with someone at the attorney’s office you already know; never act on wiring instructions that arrive by email alone.

The CT conveyance tax: state bands and a worked example

The CT conveyance tax has two parts, a state tax and a municipal tax, and the seller pays both before the deed can be recorded. On a residential dwelling (a single-family home, a condo unit or a co-op unit) the state part is charged in bands, like income tax: 0.75% of the price up to $800,000, 1.25% of the part above $800,000 up to $2,500,000, and 2.25% of anything above $2,500,000. The municipal part is a flat rate on the whole price, 0.25% in most towns and up to 0.50% in a few.

A worked example. A seller in Milford accepts $450,000. The state tax is 0.75% of $450,000, or $3,375. Milford’s municipal tax, the base 0.25%, adds $1,125. The seller pays $4,500 in conveyance tax out of the proceeds. On a $1,000,000 sale in New Haven, the state tax is 0.75% of the first $800,000 plus 1.25% of the $200,000 above it, $8,500 in all, and New Haven’s 0.50% municipal tax adds $5,000, for $13,500.

Municipal conveyance tax by town

Every town charges the base 0.25%. State law lets 19 towns add up to another quarter point. Of those, 16 charge the full extra amount, for 0.50% in total. Stamford adds part of it: 0.35% in total on a sale up to $1,000,000 and 0.50% above that. Groton and Thomaston are eligible but add nothing, so they charge 0.25% like everyone else. Towns can change their rate by ordinance, so your attorney confirms the current rate with the town clerk before closing.

Recording fees under Public Act 25-168

Since July 1, 2025, Connecticut town clerks charge one statewide schedule to record land records: $70 for the first page and $5 for each page after it, and a flat $160 for a document that names a nominee. Most mortgages name MERS as the lender’s nominee, so the mortgage usually lands in the flat-fee bucket however long it is. The buyer pays to record the deed and the mortgage; your attorney collects it at closing.

Property tax proration and escrow

Connecticut towns assess real estate at 70% of market value and tax it at the town’s mill rate, the tax per $1,000 of assessed value. So the yearly bill is roughly the value, times 70%, times the mill rate, divided by 1,000. In Milford, at 28.67 mills, a $400,000 home works out to about $8,028 a year before any exemption. Rates vary a lot between neighboring towns:

At closing the two attorneys adjust the property tax so each side pays for the days it owns the house. How the adjustment is figured depends on the town’s billing schedule and what the seller has already paid. Milford, for example, bills in advance in two installments: July 1 covers July through December and January 1 covers January through June, and the buyer is responsible for the next bill due after the closing (Milford Tax Collector). Your attorney applies the right schedule for your town.

Most loans also collect an escrow deposit at closing, so the next tax and insurance bills can be paid from the account. Federal rules cap the extra cushion a lender may hold at one-sixth of the year’s estimated escrow payments (12 CFR 1024.17). To see the monthly tax and escrow for a specific town and price, use the Connecticut mortgage calculator.

Ways to bring less cash to closing

• A seller credit, negotiated in the contract. Each loan type caps it; FHA allows up to 6% of the price toward your costs (HUD Handbook 4000.1).
• A lender credit, which pays part of your costs in exchange for a slightly higher rate. Whether it is worth it depends on how long you keep the loan, so I price it both ways.
• CHFA down payment assistance, which can cover closing costs as well as the down payment for buyers who qualify. See CHFA down payment assistance.
• Shopping the parts you choose: the attorney, the owner’s title policy and the homeowners insurance.

What to ask your attorney before closing

1. Is your fee flat, and what does it include: contract review, title search, the closing itself, recording?
2. What will the lender’s title policy cost, and do you recommend an owner’s policy on this house?
3. How will the property tax be adjusted for this town’s billing schedule, and does the property pay a separate district, borough or association tax?
4. Are there open sewer, water or assessment charges that need to be paid or adjusted at closing?
5. For a condo, have you ordered the resale certificate, and how are the common charges adjusted?
6. Is the house in a flood zone that will require flood insurance?
7. What is the exact cash to close, how does it match the Closing Disclosure, and who will confirm the wiring instructions with me by phone?