Reading your seller closing statement, line by line
A few days before closing, the title company sends the settlement statement — the document that turns your sale price into the number that actually hits your account. Most sellers skim it, sign it, and wonder afterward where several thousand dollars went. The better plan takes twenty minutes: the statement has a fixed anatomy, every line is checkable, and the errors that occur — outdated payoffs, wrong tax prorations, fees that belong to the other side — are exactly the kind a prepared seller catches and a rushed one funds. Here's the walkthrough, built on the region's actual cost structure. It pairs with the full cost-of-selling breakdown; values referenced run through June 2026.
The anatomy: credits down to cash
Every settlement statement runs the same arithmetic: your sale price at the top, additions for anything the buyer owes you, then the subtractions — payoff, taxes, fees, credits — down to cash to seller at the bottom. Review it against your purchase agreement with both documents open; the statement should contain no number the agreement and your loan documents can't explain.
The big line: the mortgage payoff
The largest subtraction and the most commonly stale. The payoff is not your last statement's balance — it's principal plus accrued interest through the closing date plus any payoff fees, obtained by the title company directly from your lender, and it's dated: close later than the payoff letter's good-through date and the number changes. Check that the payoff shown matches a current letter, that any home-equity line is included and being closed (a HELOC left open against a sold house is a classic title problem), and afterward, watch for the escrow-account refund your lender owes you separately — money sellers routinely forget exists.
The tax proration: arrears make it look wrong
Property-tax lines confuse more Michiana sellers than any other entry because Indiana bills in arrears — this year's bills pay last year's taxes. So at closing you'll credit the buyer for taxes accrued during your ownership that haven't been billed yet, and the line looks like paying taxes twice when it's paying them once, late, as Indiana always does. Michigan closings prorate against summer and winter bills by local custom instead. Verify three things: the dates of the proration period, the daily rate against your actual bill, and — if your sale closes near a billing date — that nothing is double- counted between the proration and a bill you already paid.
The transfer tax line: one state has it
Michigan sales carry the state transfer tax at $3.75 per $500 of price plus $0.55 county — 0.86% combined, seller-paid by custom, about $1,675 on a Niles-typical $194,825 sale. Indiana charges no transfer tax; you should see only modest recording fees. A "transfer tax" line on an Indiana settlement statement is a question to ask, not a fee to fund.
Title and closing fees: flat, printed, splittable
The title company's own charges — search, examination, closing fee, the owner's title policy — are flat fees in the hundreds, and who pays which is regional custom as modified by your purchase agreement, which controls. Check the statement's split against what you actually negotiated; "customary" is not a contract term. If your sale involved a flat-fee MLS listing or any commission, those appear here too — verify the percentage and recipient against the written agreement, to the dollar.
Credits and the deal you actually made
Whatever the negotiation produced shows up as seller credits: repair credits from the inspection round, closing-cost assistance, anything promised in an addendum. Two checks: every negotiated credit appears (buyers notice missing ones; you should notice extras), and none exceeds what the buyer's loan program allows — the title company coordinates this, but the seller signs it. Utilities, HOA dues where they exist, and any tenant deposits transferring round out the small lines, each with the same rule: match it to a document or ask.
Signing day and the money
You'll sign the deed and closing documents before a notary — in person or by the mail-away and remote arrangements both states' title companies run routinely — and proceeds move by wire or check after recording. The wire-fraud rule applies to sellers exactly as to buyers: deliver your account instructions to the title company by phone or in person at a number and office you verified independently, and treat any emailed "change" to disbursement arrangements as an attack. It's your sale's entire proceeds in one transaction; twenty minutes of statement review and one verified phone call are the whole security budget it needs.
Ask for the statement at least a day early — title companies provide drafts on request — and reconcile it against the purchase agreement, your payoff letter, and your tax bill. Questions cost nothing before signing and legal fees after. The sellers who ran the numbers all the way through finish the same way they started: reading the document, checking it against the evidence, and keeping what the arithmetic says is theirs.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my mortgage payoff higher than my loan balance?
The payoff adds accrued interest through the closing date plus any payoff processing fees to your principal balance — and it grows daily, which is why it comes from a dated lender letter rather than your statement. Your escrow balance comes back to you separately after closing.
Why am I paying property taxes at closing in Indiana?
Because Indiana bills in arrears: taxes for your ownership period haven't been billed yet, so you credit the buyer for them now and the buyer pays the eventual bill. It's one payment, timed by Indiana's system — verify the dates and daily rate, not the concept.
What errors should I look for on a settlement statement?
The classics: stale payoff figures, an open HELOC not being closed, proration date mistakes, fees assigned against your purchase agreement's actual terms, missing or phantom credits, and — Indiana specifically — any transfer-tax line, since the state doesn't charge one.
When do I get my money after closing?
After documents record — typically the same day or the next business day — by wire or check from the title company's escrow. Verify disbursement instructions through an independently confirmed phone number; emailed changes to where money goes are presumed fraudulent.
Who prepares the settlement statement?
The title company (or closing attorney) assembles it from the purchase agreement, the lender payoffs, county tax records, and both sides' invoices — and they'll walk any line by phone before signing day. Request the draft early; a day's review window is standard practice for exactly this reason.
Do buyers and sellers see the same statement?
Each side receives its own statement covering its own debits and credits; shared items like prorations appear on both, mirrored. Your review only needs your side — but check the mirrored lines match the agreement, since a proration error by definition touches both parties. When a mirrored line disagrees between the two statements, flag it the same day — prorations and credits are recalculated in minutes before closing and litigated at length after it.