What do sellers pay at closing in Louisiana?
Sellers commonly pay off any loan on the house, pay their share of the property taxes, and pay the title and closing items that the purchase contract says the seller covers. If the house was listed with an agent, there may also be a commission. What you actually pay depends on your loan, your contract and your property.
Think of closing as a final bill with two sides. Your sale price goes on one side. Everything that comes out goes on the other. What is left is your net, and it is the number that matters.
An honest buyer shows you that number before you sign. We do.
Want a cash offer, or to have us take over the payments? Call or text Charlie at (318) 714-4321, or Get My Cash Offer. Cash is not promised on every house. No fee, no obligation.
The costs, one at a time
Your loan payoff
If you have a mortgage, the title company asks your lender for a payoff amount and pays it from the sale. The payoff is more than the balance on your last statement, because it includes interest up to the closing date and sometimes other charges. A second mortgage or home equity loan is paid the same way. Once the lender is paid, it releases its claim on the house.
Property taxes
Property taxes are split between you and the buyer for the part of the year you owned the house. This split is called a proration. In Louisiana, the tax bill for a year generally comes out in the fall and is due by the end of December, so the bill often comes after the year it covers is mostly over. Because of that, a sale in the middle of the year usually means the seller owes a share of a bill that has not been issued yet, and the title company figures it out and credits the buyer at closing. Your parish tax collector and assessor can tell you your amounts. Caddo, Bossier and DeSoto each have their own. Ask the title company how they will handle your proration.
If you are behind on taxes, they come out of the sale too. See behind on property taxes in Louisiana.
Title and closing items
A title company searches the records to make sure you can sell the house and the buyer gets a clean title. The title and closing items, such as the title search, the notary and document preparation, and the buyer's title insurance policy, are paid by whoever the contract says pays them. In Louisiana, who pays which item is a matter of the contract and local practice, so read that part of the contract. It is a good thing to ask about before you agree to a price.
The Louisiana Department of Insurance publishes consumer information on title insurance, including how the owner's and lender's policies differ.
Liens and judgments
If anything is recorded against the house, it generally has to be paid or cleared before the sale can close. Common examples are an unpaid contractor, a judgment against you, a tax lien, or a lien for unpaid water or utility charges, depending on the parish. The title search finds these. Ask for the search early, so nothing surprises you at the table.
Recording fees
The clerk of court charges fees to record documents, including the sale and the cancellation of a mortgage. The amounts are set by Louisiana law and vary by document. The title company handles the filings and puts the fees on the closing statement.
Commissions, if you listed the house
If you sell with a listing agent, the commission is whatever your listing agreement says. Read the agreement before you sign it. When you sell directly to a buyer like us, there is no listing agreement and no commission, and we don't charge homeowners a fee.
Repairs and credits
On a listed sale, the buyer's inspection can lead to repair requests or credits at closing. On an as-is sale to a local buyer, you don't make repairs, and the price already reflects the condition. See selling as-is in Shreveport-Bossier.
How a sale to us handles costs
We tell you plainly, on paper, what you will net. Before you agree to anything, you see a written offer and a closing estimate that shows the price, the payoff, the taxes, any liens and the title and closing items, so you know what you leave the table with.
We don't promise to pay all costs. Which costs we cover and which you cover is part of the offer, and it differs from sale to sale. We talk it through with you and put it in writing. If a cost surprises you, ask. The answer should be on the closing statement, line by line.
Here is how it goes:
- You call Charlie at (318) 714-4321 or send the form. Tell us about the house and any loan.
- We look at the house and the numbers, including what you owe and what is recorded against it.
- We give you a written offer and what you would net. You can say no.
- A local title company handles the closing. It gets the payoffs, handles the taxes and fees, and pays you what is left.
- You see the closing statement before you sign. Every item is on it.
Why the closing statement matters
The closing statement is the one page that shows every dollar going in and out of the sale. Ask for a draft a day or two before closing, not at the table. Check the sale price, the payoff, the tax proration and each fee against what you were told. If a line is wrong or unclear, ask the title company to explain it. Fixing a mistake before you sign is far easier than fixing it afterward.
Keep in mind that the payoff number changes by the day, because interest keeps running until the lender is paid. If the closing date moves, the payoff moves with it, and so does your net.
Before you sell, gather these
- Your latest mortgage statement, and a note of any second loan or home equity line.
- Your most recent property tax bill, or the tax collector's record for your parcel.
- Any papers on liens, judgments, or unpaid contractors.
- If the house is in a succession, see inherited houses.
Updated October 21, 2026