Who pays closing costs in Arkansas?

For a seller, usually about 1 percent of the sale price, before any commission on an open-market sale. On a $200,000 house that is roughly $1,500 to $2,000. That is not a percentage anyone charges you. It is a handful of separate lines added together, and most of them are flat dollars rather than percentages, so the share of the price goes up as the price goes down.

That 1 percent covers the owner's title policy, your share of the transfer tax, your share of the closing fee, the title search, and the charge to record the release that clears your old mortgage. It does not include commission on a traditional sale, and it does not include your share of the year's property taxes. Both of those are real money. They are counted on their own because commission depends on the deal you sign and the tax share depends on the day you close.

Published averages for Arkansas usually look much bigger than 1 percent. Most of them fold the commission on a traditional sale into the same number, and some also count money the seller agrees to hand back to the buyer at closing, which is a cut in the price rather than a cost of closing. Take those two out and what is left is close to 1 percent.

One warning about every Arkansas closing cost figure, including this one. The closing fee and the title search fee are not published anywhere in this state. Arkansas does not regulate what a title company charges for its own work, and no Arkansas title company posts a price list. So treat 1 percent as a planning figure, then ask the title company for a written line-by-line estimate. That is the only number that is actually yours.

Here is the same list with real numbers in it. The $200,000 price is an example, picked because it divides evenly. The transfer tax and the recording charge are fixed by Arkansas law, so those two are the same at every closing in the state. The title figures are not law. They come from the schedules two title underwriters publish for Arkansas.

Owner's title policy, about $590. Stewart Title Guaranty and Southwest Title publish the same Arkansas schedule, and it is built in steps that get added together: $75 up to the first $20,000, then $4.00 per thousand up to $50,000, then $3.40 per thousand up to $100,000, then $2.25 per thousand up to $500,000. On a $200,000 sale that is $75 plus $120 plus $170 plus $225, which comes to $590. The same schedule gives about $478 on a $150,000 sale and about $703 on a $250,000 one. Arkansas does not set title rates, so another company can charge more or less, and an upgraded owner's policy costs 20 to 25 percent more on those same schedules.

Transfer tax, $660. Arkansas charges $3.30 for each $1,000, or any part of $1,000, of what the buyer pays for the house, once that is more than $100. Two hundred thousand divided by a thousand is 200, and 200 times $3.30 is $660. Because any part of a thousand counts as a whole one, a $200,500 sale is taxed on 201 thousands, or $663.30. The statute's default splits the tax half and half, so $330 each, but contracts often move the whole $660 to the seller. Your contract decides which.

Recording the release, $15. When the old loan is paid off, the release has to be recorded to clear it off the title, and Arkansas sets that price: $15 for one page, one side, and $5 for each page after. A release is short, so this is the smallest line on the sheet.

The closing fee and the title search, ask. These two are the honest gap in every Arkansas closing cost estimate. The title company sets both, nobody in Arkansas publishes them, and the title policy premium does not include the search. The underwriters' own schedules say so in writing. Sellers commonly pay half of the closing fee.

Add the published lines: $590 for the policy, plus your share of the $660 tax, plus $15 to record the release. That is $935 if the tax is split and $1,265 if the contract puts all of it on you, before the closing fee and the search go on top. Change the price and the percentage moves with it, because the transfer tax is the only line that rises in a straight line.

Your share of the year's property taxes sits outside this list. Arkansas bills property taxes a year behind, so a mid-year closing splits an estimated bill by the days each side owned the house. Depending on your county bill and how far into the year you close, that one line can be bigger than any single fee above it. Our guide on property tax proration works through that math.

Custom in Arkansas puts the owner's title insurance policy on the seller. This is the one-time policy that protects the buyer if an old lien or ownership problem surfaces later. It usually runs several hundred dollars. Arkansas does not regulate title insurance rates, so each underwriter publishes its own schedule and the number moves from one company to the next. On a $200,000 sale, two published Arkansas schedules put the standard owner's policy at about $590, which is under a third of one percent of the price. The enhanced policy many buyers take costs 20 to 25 percent more. That premium buys the policy and nothing else. The title search, the examination and the closing fee are billed separately.

Sellers also commonly pay half of the closing fee, the small recording charge for the release that clears their old mortgage, and whatever share of the transfer tax the contract assigns. Arkansas settles your share of the year's property taxes at the closing table too, because taxes run a year behind, and our guide on property tax proration walks through how that credit works.

Commission is a different subject. It belongs to an open-market sale, not to this list, and our guide comparing a cash offer with the open market covers that full cost picture.

The buyer's biggest closing costs come from the loan. When there is a mortgage, there is a second title policy that protects the bank, plus the lender's own charges for setting up the loan. Who pays that second policy varies more than people think, so check the contract rather than assume. None of these costs exist without a loan.

Buyers also commonly pay their half of the closing fee. Arkansas does not regulate that fee, and title companies here do not publish schedules for it, so there is no honest statewide number to quote. The underwriters' own rate manuals say plainly that their charges do not include closing or escrow services. Ask the title company for its figure before you sign.

Recording fees are a statewide statutory schedule, not a title company price. Under Ark. Code Ann. 21-6-306, the county recorder charges $15 for the first page of a document and $5 for each page after that. A deed is usually short, so this is one of the smallest lines on the sheet.

The transfer tax is the other one. Ark. Code Ann. 26-60-106 says the tax, unless agreed upon otherwise, is paid half by the seller and half by the buyer. That default surprises people, because in practice the contract often moves the whole tax to the seller's side. The rate itself, and what the tax means when you are leaving the state, is covered on our page about selling when relocating.

A cash sale deletes a whole column of the closing sheet. There is no lender, so there is no lender's title policy, no loan charges, and no bank-required appraisal. The title company still searches the title, holds the money, and records the deed, the same as in any other sale.

When Tara Pays Cash buys a house, we cover the typical closing costs, meaning the title work. You get a guaranteed cash offer within 24 hours, and we can close in less than 10 days, or on your timeline. Our owner, Tara Helgestad, has bought more than 500 houses across Central Arkansas since 2010 and paid sellers more than $75 million. She is a licensed Arkansas real estate professional. If you want to see how the numbers land on your house, call (501) 251-9330.