In Ohio, the buyer generally pays the costs tied to the mortgage and property due diligence, while the seller pays the real estate commission, the state conveyance fee, and the costs of delivering clean title. That is the custom, not the law. Who pays closing costs in Ohio is ultimately decided by the purchase agreement, and nearly every line item can be shifted between the parties through negotiation. Buyers typically see closing costs of 3% to 6% of the loan amount; sellers, once commission is included, often land between 7% and 10% of the sale price.
Costs the Buyer Usually Pays
Buyer-side charges cluster around the loan and the inspection of the property. Expect the following:
- Appraisal: $400 to $700, required by most lenders to confirm the home’s value supports the loan.
- Credit report: $30 to $100.
- Loan origination fee: roughly 1% of the loan amount.
- Boundary survey, if the lender requires one: $350 to $650 for a residential lot.
- Home inspection: $300 to $500, technically optional but rarely worth skipping.
- Lender’s title insurance: required by nearly every mortgage lender, paid by the buyer, protecting the lender’s interest against title defects.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is Lender’s Title Insurance
- Prepaid items collected at the table: the first year of homeowner’s insurance, the initial property tax escrow deposit, and per-diem mortgage interest from the closing date through month end.
- Recording fees: $34 for the first two pages of a document and $8 for each additional page, with counties allowed to add a preservation surcharge of up to $5 per document.2Ohio Recorders’ Association. Fees
- Notary fees: capped by Ohio law at $5 per notarization in person and $30 for online notarizations.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 147.08 – Fees
Costs the Seller Usually Pays
The seller’s biggest check is for the real estate commission, historically around 5% to 6% of the sale price. That picture changed in August 2024, when a settlement involving the National Association of Realtors changed how buyer-agent compensation is handled. Sellers are no longer required to offer compensation to the buyer’s agent through the MLS. The seller still pays their own listing agent, but the buyer’s agent fee is now a separate negotiation between the buyer and that agent. In practice, many Ohio sellers still contribute toward the buyer’s agent fee to attract offers; it just is not automatic anymore.
Beyond commission, the seller pays what it takes to deliver clean title: paying off the remaining mortgage, satisfying any outstanding liens, and preparing the deed and other transfer documents. The seller also pays the Ohio conveyance fee and any county permissive transfer tax, and credits the buyer at closing for property taxes that accrued during the seller’s ownership.
The Ohio Conveyance Fee
Ohio charges a mandatory statewide conveyance fee of $1 per $1,000 of the sale price on every deed transferring real property.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 319-202 – Submitting Statement and Payment to County Auditor Counties may add a permissive real estate transfer tax of up to $3 per $1,000.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 322.02 – Real Property Transfer Tax Not every county levies the full permissive amount, so the combined rate varies.
On a $250,000 sale, the mandatory piece is $250. A county charging the maximum permissive rate adds another $750, for a total of $1,000. In a county with no permissive tax, it stays at $250. Ohio law places this obligation on the grantor, meaning the seller, and the fee must be paid to the county auditor before the deed can be recorded.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 322.02 – Real Property Transfer Tax
Title Insurance: Who Pays Depends on the Region
Two policies are in play. The lender’s policy, paid by the buyer, protects the lender. The owner’s policy is technically optional and protects the buyer’s equity against claims that surface after closing, such as an undisclosed heir or a recording error.
Who buys the owner’s policy in Ohio depends on where the property sits. In northern Ohio, sellers customarily purchase the owner’s title insurance policy for the buyer. In southern Ohio, the cost is more commonly split or falls entirely on the buyer. These are entrenched local customs rather than legal requirements, and either side can propose a different split in the purchase agreement. Ohio title insurance premiums generally fall between 0.5% and 1% of the sale price, so on a $250,000 home expect roughly $1,250 to $2,500 for the owner’s policy.
Property Tax Proration
Ohio property taxes are paid in arrears: the bills you receive in a given year cover the prior year’s taxes.6Butler County Treasurer. Real Estate Tax – Section: Tax Collection At closing, the seller credits the buyer for taxes that accrued while the seller owned the home but have not yet been billed. Close on June 15 and the credit covers January 1 through June 14 of the current year, plus any prior-year balance still owed.
Read the proration line on the Closing Disclosure carefully. Ohio closings use either a “short proration” or “long proration” method, and the choice can shift hundreds of dollars in either direction depending on the county’s billing cycle.
Seller Concessions and the Loan-Type Caps
A seller can agree to pay part of the buyer’s closing costs, but the buyer’s loan program sets a ceiling on how much the seller may contribute. Exceeding the cap doesn’t just void the overage; the excess gets deducted from the sale price for underwriting, which can sink the loan approval.
- Conventional loans: 3% of the sale price if the buyer puts less than 10% down, 6% with 10% to 24.99% down, and 9% with 25% or more down.7Fannie Mae. Interested Party Contributions (IPCs)
- FHA loans: 6% of the sale price, regardless of down payment.
- VA loans: 4% of the home’s reasonable value as set by the VA appraisal. Concessions include things like paying the buyer’s VA funding fee or prepaying hazard insurance.8Veterans Affairs. VA Funding Fee and Loan Closing Costs
- USDA loans: 6% of the sale price.9USDA Rural Development. Loan Purposes and Restrictions
First-time buyers using FHA or VA financing commonly ask for the maximum concession to cut their cash to close. In a competitive market, sellers often resist. In a buyer’s market, concessions are routine, and they are sometimes offset by a slightly higher purchase price.
What’s Actually Negotiable
Every closing cost in an Ohio transaction can be shifted between the parties through the purchase agreement. The conveyance fee is levied on the seller by statute, but even that obligation can effectively be transferred by adjusting the purchase price to compensate. Most real-world negotiation focuses on three things: seller concessions toward the buyer’s loan costs, credits in lieu of inspection repairs, and the split on the owner’s title insurance policy.
When an inspection surfaces real problems, the seller typically chooses between making the repairs before closing or offering a credit so the buyer can handle them afterward. Credits are simpler, but a lender may require a repair escrow for major structural or safety issues, in which case the closing agent holds back part of the seller’s proceeds until the work is done and verified.
The practical takeaway: Ohio custom gives you a starting point for who pays what, but the final split lives in the signed purchase agreement. Price the whole package, not any single line, and compare it against your Loan Estimate so the numbers at the table are the numbers you planned for.