Closing Costs in Wisconsin 2026: Buyer & Seller Guide

Wisconsin’s real estate transfer fee is 30 cents per $100 of value ($3 per $1,000), and Wis. Stat. § 77.22(1) imposes it “on the grantor.” Each county register of deeds takes $30 per recorded deed or mortgage, however many pages. Title insurers file their base rates with the state after putting them in use.

The transfer fee: 30 cents per $100, due when the deed is recorded

The statute’s wording is “30 cents for each $100 of value or fraction thereof on every conveyance not exempted or excluded under this subchapter.” For an ordinary sale, value means “the full actual consideration paid therefor or to be paid, including the amount of any lien or liens thereon” (§ 77.21(3)(a)). If the deed is a gift, recites a nominal price or comes from an exchange, the fee is figured on estimated open-market value instead (§ 77.21(3)(b)). On a land contract, value is “the total principal amount that the buyer agrees to pay the seller.”

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau dates the current rate to transfers “on or after July 1, 1982,” under Chapter 20, Laws of 1981. Under § 77.24 the county keeps 20 percent and the state gets the rest.

The seller owes it, the buyer’s side files the eRETR

The fee is imposed on the grantor, but the return is the buyer side’s job. The grantee “or his or her duly authorized agent” must complete a real estate transfer return, “signed by both grantor and grantee.” Since July 1, 2009, it has had to be filed electronically unless the Department of Revenue grants a hardship waiver (§ 77.22(2)). For a sale deed, the register will not record it without a completed return and the fee. If DOR finds the value understated by 25 percent or more, or an exemption wrongly claimed, it adds a penalty of “$25 or 25 percent of the additional fee due, whichever is greater” (§ 77.26(8)). Any extra fee is computed “to be paid by … the grantor” (§ 77.26(2)).

The WB-11 Residential Offer to Purchase, approved by the Real Estate Examining Board (mandatory use date 8-15-24), agrees: “Seller, at Seller’s cost, shall complete and execute the documents necessary to record the conveyance and pay the Wisconsin Real Estate Transfer Fee.” Check the Title Evidence section of your own offer for any changes.

Deeds § 77.25 lets through without a fee

Of the more than 30 exemptions, these fit household deals:

• (8m) between husband and wife, and (8n) between domestic partners under ch. 770.
• (8) between parent and child, stepparent and stepchild, parent and son- or daughter-in-law, or grandparent and grandchild, “for nominal or no consideration.”
• (11) by will, descent or survivorship, and (11m) a transfer on death under § 705.15. Recording the TOD beneficiary designation itself is exempt under (10m).
• (13) real estate “having a value of $1,000 or less.”
• (14) a foreclosure, or a deed in lieu of foreclosure, to the mortgage holder or land contract seller.
• (17) the deed that fulfills a land contract, “if the proper fee was paid when the land contract … was recorded.”

An exempt deed still needs a return, except under (1) and (10m) (§ 77.255). No city, village, town or county “may impose a fee on a conveyance that is exempt” under § 77.25 (§ 77.256).

$30 a document at the register of deeds

Section 59.43(2)(ag) sets the fee “for recording any document entitled to be recorded with the register of deeds” at $30; cemetery, subdivision and condominium plats are $50 under par. (h). Milwaukee County’s register states it plainly: “Each document submitted for recording requires a $30 recording fee, regardless of the number of pages.” So a deed plus a new mortgage is $60. Fees are “payable in advance by the party procuring the services” (§ 59.43(2g)(a)), and the WB-11 makes recording the deed a buyer cost.

Title premiums: filed with the state after use

Wisconsin’s rate chapter, ch. 625, covers title insurance; § 625.03 does not list it among the lines excluded. Insurers file their rates “within 30 days after they become effective” (§ 625.13(1)), and each filing is “open to public inspection” (§ 625.14). A title insurer does not have to file a discount below its filed rate if it keeps records of the discount for at least five years and has told the commissioner in advance about its discount program (Wis. Admin. Code Ins 6.78(4)(a)-(b)), so ask the title company which rate it is quoting.

Under the WB-11, the seller provides an owner’s policy “in the amount of the purchase price on a current ALTA form” and pays for it. The buyer pays for “the title evidence required by Buyer’s lender.” The commitment has to reach the buyer or the buyer’s attorney “not less than 5 business days before closing.” If neither choice is struck on the gap endorsement line, gap coverage is at the seller’s cost.

What your agent may fill in, and what needs a lawyer

Section 452.40(1)(b) lets a licensee “use a form approved by the board.” Under § 452.40(2), a licensee may not give “advice or opinions concerning the legal rights or obligations of parties to a transaction, the legal effect of a specific contract or conveyance, or the state of title.” It does allow “a general explanation of the provisions” of an approved form. Supreme Court Rule 23.02(2)(o) says no law license is needed for “practicing within the scope of practice allowed by a current credential issued or authorized under chs. 440 to 480, stats.,” unless the court has ruled otherwise by rule or published opinion. In State ex rel. Reynolds v. Dinger, 14 Wis. 2d 193 (1961), the court left standing the brokers’ board rule on completing standard forms, calling it “a salutary one.”

Buyer-agent pay after January 1, 2027

2025 Wis. Act 69 rewrites § 452.19 effective January 1, 2027. For homes with one to four dwelling units, a firm “shall not accept compensation of any kind from another firm.” If a seller agrees to pay a firm other than the listing firm for services to the buyer, that promise must be “expressly stated in the fully executed offer to purchase” and signed by buyer and seller (§ 452.19(4)(a)).

WHEDA’s two down payment loans

WHEDA lists both as loans. Its Available Programs page (read September 24, 2026) says “Both WHEDA Down Payment Assistance programs can be used with either WHEDA first mortgage program.”

• Easy Close Advantage DPA: $1,000 minimum; maximum “6% of the purchase price” with a WHEDA Conventional or FHA first mortgage, per WHEDA’s program page; its Easy Close product matrix says “6% of the lessor of the: purchase price, or appraised value.” Ask the lender which base applies. It is a “10-year fixed rate second mortgage with monthly payment”; the “Interest rate is same as first mortgage.”
• Capital Access DPA: “Loan amount of $7,500,” a “30-year fixed rate mortgage” at “0% Interest rate” (WHEDA footnotes: “Actual APR may vary”) with “No Monthly Payments.” It has separate income limits, “generally lower.” WHEDA says it is “available again on a limited basis, starting January 15, 2026.” Reservations are first-come, first-served, need a property address, and once funds are fully committed the program “will close until additional funding becomes available.”

More for Wisconsin buyers: Wisconsin real estate guide, homeowner insurance guide for Wisconsin, closing costs by state, down payment estimator, mortgage calculator. Next door: Minnesota, Iowa.

Wisconsin transfer fee and recording questions

My parents are deeding me their house for $1. Is there a transfer fee?

Not if the deed fits § 77.25(8): a transfer between parent and child “for nominal or no consideration” is exempt. The return is still filed, and the deed has to cite the exemption subsection.

I’m taking over the seller’s mortgage. Does that balance count toward the fee?

Yes. Value includes “the amount of any lien or liens thereon” (§ 77.21(3)(a)). DOR’s return instructions say to enter the price “including any liens (mortgages).”

Can the listing agent explain what the offer means for me?

They can give “a general explanation” of an approved form’s provisions while completing or delivering the form. They cannot tell you the legal effect of your contract or the state of title (§ 452.40(2)).

Is WHEDA’s Capital Access money a grant?

WHEDA lists it as a loan: a $7,500, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 0% interest with no monthly payments.