Short, specific answers for people selling a house in Wilmington and the rest of Delaware: who signs what, which county office files it, what the state takes at settlement and how much time a deadline really leaves you.
Selling here does not work quite like it does across the river in New Jersey or up in Pennsylvania. A Delaware-licensed attorney has to run the settlement. The realty transfer tax is split 50/50 between seller and buyer, and on a sale to us you pay half and we pay half. Most owners of a one-to-four-family home owe the buyer a written Seller’s Disclosure of Real Property Condition Report before an offer is made. And each county keeps its own Recorder of Deeds, Register of Wills and tax calendar, so the answer to “when is this due?” often depends on which county the house is in.
We start with Wilmington, the state’s largest city, where city taxes, water accounts and rental rules sit on top of the county’s. From there the posts work outward to Newark, Bear and Middletown, down through Dover and the rest of Kent County, and on to Georgetown, Seaford and the Sussex County coast. Every post is about one place or one problem, checks its legal and tax points against the Delaware Code or the office that actually handles them, and keeps a list of those sources.
Written by the Northbound Home Buyers team. Our office is in Swedesboro, New Jersey, and we buy houses in all three Delaware counties.
Newest first.
The first articles are still being written, and nothing goes up here until its facts have been checked. In the meantime, the situation and county guides below answer the questions sellers ask us most.
Or call (856) 226-4289 and ask us directly.
Longer guides that stay up to date, one for each common situation and for every county and town we cover.
Wilmington, the University of Delaware towns and the suburbs north and south of the canal.
The capital, Dover Air Force Base and the farm towns of central Delaware.
Beach towns, river towns and the county seat in Georgetown.
