JB PARCELTennessee Closing Cost Calculator
Tennessee charges a realty transfer tax on the deed and an indebtedness tax on the new note. Both are set by statute. This adds them to the rest of the closing table for buyer and seller.
Tennessee only for now. A state goes live here when we can cite its official rates, the same standard as "Where the numbers come from" below.
How this calculator works
Two Tennessee-specific taxes hit at closing and both are statutory. The realty transfer tax is $0.37 per $100 of the greater of consideration paid or the value of the property, charged for the privilege of recording the deed. On a $340,000 purchase that is $1,258. Under Tenn. Code Ann. 67-4-409 the grantee, meaning the buyer, is responsible for it.
The second is the indebtedness tax, sometimes called the mortgage tax or recordation tax. It runs 11.5 cents per $100 of the indebtedness evidenced by the recorded deed of trust, and the first $2,000 of indebtedness is exempt. On a $272,000 loan that is $310.50. It applies to refinances too, on the new note, which is a cost people routinely forget when they run refinance math.
Everything else on the settlement statement is market practice rather than statute. Title insurance, settlement fees, survey, appraisal, origination, prepaid interest, and escrow deposits are all customary buyer costs in most Tennessee transactions, while commission and any concession sit with the seller. Every line is negotiable and your contract controls.
Recording fees are deliberately left blank. The statutory authority is Tenn. Code Ann. 8-21-1001, but the schedule your county register actually applies varies, and a wrong number here would flow straight into your cash to close. Ask the title company or the register of deeds and type in the real figure.
Worked example: a $340,000 purchase with 20 percent down
Buyer financing $272,000, typical Tennessee cost allocation.
| Realty transfer tax ($0.37 / $100) | $1,258.00 |
|---|---|
| Indebtedness tax ($0.115 / $100 over $2,000) | $310.50 |
| Title policies and settlement | $2,375.00 |
| Appraisal, origination, lender fees | $3,740.00 |
| Prepaid interest and escrow | $1,679.52 |
| Total buyer closing costs | $9,363.02 |
| Down payment | $68,000 |
| Buyer cash to close | $77,363.02 |
| Seller commission at 5.5% | $18,700.00 |
| Seller net proceeds | $321,300.00 |
Buyer costs land at about 2.75 percent of the purchase price, which is a normal Tennessee range for a financed purchase. On a cash purchase, drop the loan to zero and the indebtedness tax, origination, appraisal, lender's title policy, and prepaid interest all disappear, cutting closing costs by more than half.
Where the numbers come from
The realty transfer tax rate of $0.37 per $100 and the indebtedness tax rate of 11.5 cents per $100 with the first $2,000 exempt are both taken from the Tennessee Department of Revenue's Realty Transfer and Recordation Tax manual, citing Tenn. Code Ann. 67-4-409. Both are editable inputs on this page so the calculator stays correct if the statute changes. Recording fees are authorized by Tenn. Code Ann. 8-21-1001 but the applied schedule varies by county register, so we leave that field blank rather than publish a figure we cannot verify for your county. Title, settlement, and lender charges are market pricing, not law.
Questions investors ask
How much is transfer tax in Tennessee?
$0.37 per $100 of the greater of the consideration paid or the value of the property, which works out to 0.37 percent. On a $340,000 sale that is $1,258. The statute assigns it to the grantee, meaning the buyer, though like most closing costs the contract can shift who writes the check.
What is the Tennessee mortgage tax?
It is the indebtedness or recordation tax: 11.5 cents per $100 of the indebtedness secured by the recorded instrument, with the first $2,000 exempt. A $272,000 loan generates $310.50. It applies to purchase money loans and to refinances alike, since the tax attaches to recording the new deed of trust.
Who pays closing costs in Tennessee?
Statute puts transfer tax on the buyer and indebtedness tax on the borrower. Beyond that, custom in most of Tennessee has the buyer paying lender charges, the owner's and lender's title policies, appraisal, prepaids, and escrow, while the seller pays commission and any negotiated concession. All of it is negotiable and varies by market, so read the contract rather than the custom.
What are closing costs as a percentage of price?
For a financed purchase in Tennessee, roughly 2 to 3 percent of the purchase price for the buyer, not counting the down payment. Cash purchases run well under one percent because origination, appraisal, lender's title, prepaid interest, and the indebtedness tax all drop off. Sellers typically see 6 to 8 percent, most of it commission.
Do I pay transfer tax on a refinance?
No. Transfer tax attaches to recording a deed that transfers an interest in real estate, and a refinance does not transfer anything. You do pay the indebtedness tax on the new note, which is why a refinance still carries a recording tax cost. Model it in the refinance break-even calculator.
How do I estimate seller net proceeds?
Sale price, minus commission, minus any concession or seller-paid costs, minus your loan payoff. This page runs it in the seller net output. Remember that the payoff is not your balance, it includes accrued interest through the funding date and any prepayment penalty, so get an actual payoff statement rather than reading your last mortgage bill.
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Screening a real property? Pull its appraised value, assessed value, acreage, land use, and last recorded sale off the JB PARCEL parcel map and drop the real numbers into this calculator instead of guessing. Coverage runs across every county we carry.