Both sides pay their own: the buyer pays the loan costs, prepaid taxes and insurance and most title and escrow fees (two to five percent of the price), and the seller pays the commissions they agreed to, the transfer tax where custom puts it on them, and usually the buyer's owner's title policy, with the contract free to move any item.
Closing costs are two separate lists, one on each side of the settlement statement, and the question people mean is usually which list a particular item lands on. Custom answers most of it, and custom varies by state and even by county. The contract answers the rest, and anything can be negotiated onto the other side as a concession.
What the buyer pays
Loan costs: origination and underwriting fees, the appraisal, the credit report, any discount points, and the lender's title insurance policy. Prepaids: homeowners insurance for the first year, interest from funding to month end, and the initial deposit into the escrow account for taxes and insurance. Title and escrow: the buyer's share of the escrow fee, recording fees, and in some states the owner's title policy. Together, two to five percent of the price, more with points.
What the seller pays
The commissions they agreed to pay, which historically covered both agents and since 2024 is negotiated: the listing fee, and any concession toward the buyer's agent. Transfer tax, where custom places it on the seller, as it does in Nevada ($2.55 per $500 of value in Clark County, $1.95 elsewhere in the state). The owner's title policy for the buyer, in Nevada and most western states. Their half of the escrow fee, HOA transfer and resale-package fees, the mortgage payoff and its release fee, and prorated taxes and dues to the closing date.
Moving items across the line
A seller concession is the seller paying some of the buyer's costs, agreed in the contract and capped by the loan programme (three to nine percent for conventional loans depending on the down payment, six percent for FHA, four percent for VA). It is common in slower markets and on new construction, and it is functionally a price cut that the buyer receives as cash at closing instead of as a lower payment. A buyer can also offer to pay items that are customarily the seller's to strengthen an offer in a competitive market.
Whatever is agreed, the closing disclosure (for the buyer) and the settlement statement (for both) show every item and who paid it, and they are the documents to check against the contract before signing.
Questions people ask
Who pays closing costs, buyer or seller?
Each pays their own list. The buyer's is mostly loan and prepaid items, two to five percent of the price. The seller's is commissions plus one to three percent in title, transfer tax and prorations. The contract can move any item.
Do sellers cover closing costs?
Sometimes, as a seller concession written into the contract, capped by the buyer's loan programme. It is common when the market is slow or the buyer is short of cash, and it is a price reduction in another form.
Who pays closing costs in Nevada?
Custom in Nevada has the seller pay the transfer tax and the buyer's owner's title policy, the buyer pay the lender's costs and the lender's title policy, and the two split the escrow fee. Commissions follow whatever the listing and buyer agreements say.