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Buyer closing costs in Lake and Porter County
Closing costs are what you pay to finish the purchase, in addition to the price. Lake and Porter County don’t publish one percentage of the price for that total. The lines we can quote are flat government fees: $25 to record a deed, $55 to record a mortgage, and a $20 sales disclosure fee to the county auditor unless an exemption applies. Porter also lists a $10 parcel transfer fee per parcel.
Lender charges, title, and the property tax proration come from your Closing Disclosure or settlement statement, not from a town rate card. This is general information, not legal, tax, or lending advice.
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Read the statement
What is fixed, and what is not
Read the closing statement as a list. Some lines are set by Indiana code and the county offices. Some are the price of the loan you picked. Some come from the contract: who pays for title, a survey, or a repair credit. If a figure isn’t on the Closing Disclosure, the cash settlement statement, or a county fee page, don’t budget it from a blog average.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sorts the upfront costs of a mortgage into these groups:
- Origination and lender charges, for making the loan.
- Points, an optional upfront charge to lower the rate.
- Third-party services the lender requires, such as the appraisal and title insurance.
- Government fees tied to the transfer or the mortgage.
- Prepaid items and deposits: interest from the closing date to the end of that month, the first year’s homeowner’s insurance premium, and the first deposits into an escrow account for future insurance and property taxes.
CFPB also says mortgage insurance is typically required when the down payment is less than 20 percent. That is a loan rule, not a county fee, and we can’t print a dollar amount for it.
Owner’s title insurance, a home inspection, and real estate fees can show up on a purchase even when the mortgage doesn’t require them. We don’t quote a title premium, an appraisal fee, or an inspection fee. Those numbers belong to the provider on your statement.
Recorder
Recording fees in both counties
The Lake County Recorder and the Porter County Recorder post the same base fee schedule, effective January 1, 2021:
- Deed, or any other instrument that isn’t a mortgage: $25. Both sheets say that fee includes one oversize page.
- Mortgage, including a subordinate or re-recorded mortgage: $55.
- Each additional page larger than 8½ by 14 inches: $5.
Indiana Code 36-2-7-10 sets the same base amounts: $25 for a deed or other instrument other than a mortgage, and $55 for a mortgage. The statute words the oversize-page rule its own way. If a document runs past a normal page, ask the recorder which line applies. Don’t add the county sheet and the statute together. They state the same fee two ways.
A financed purchase records a deed and a mortgage, so the base recorder lines are $25 plus $55. A cash purchase records the deed and no mortgage. Other documents, such as a release the seller still has to clear, are separate instruments with their own fee.
Porter’s fee page says the county doesn’t record blanket or multi-transaction documents. Don’t plan on putting several transfers on one Porter recording to save the per-document fee.
Auditor
The sales disclosure fee is a flat $20
Indiana Code 6-1.1-5.5-4 says a person filing a sales disclosure form pays $20 to the county auditor. The statute exempts some transfers from the fee. The Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) lists them in its sales disclosure overview, dated August 20, 2025: a transfer to a charity, a compulsory transaction from foreclosure or the express threat of foreclosure, divorce, court order, condemnation, or probate, and a partition of land between co-owners.
DLGF also says that when several contiguous parcels are on one sales disclosure form, the auditor should collect one $20 fee, not one per legal description. Parcels that aren’t contiguous, or that sit in different taxing districts, need their own form.
Porter’s auditor page lists the same $20 sales disclosure fee and lists an exempt sales disclosure as free.
The recorder sheets in both counties charge flat fees, not a percentage of the sale price. We did not find a Lake County page that adds a price-based transfer tax to these fees. If your statement shows a local fee besides the $20 sales disclosure fee, ask the title company what it is before you wire.
Porter County
What Porter adds
Porter’s auditor page for deeds, plats, and subdivisions lists a parcel transfer fee of $10 per parcel per deed, paid by cash or check to the Porter County Auditor. That $10 is per parcel. It is a separate charge from the $20 sales disclosure fee. A Porter deed that covers two parcels is $10 times two. Contiguous parcels on one disclosure form are still one $20 fee under the DLGF overview.
The Lake County recorder schedule we checked doesn’t list a $10 parcel transfer fee. Don’t copy Porter’s $10 onto a Lake County closing. Ask the Lake auditor or your title company whether any local fee will show up.
The Porter review hold
Since January 2, 2024, the Porter County Auditor reviews every document presented for transfer before accepting it. In-person filings need at least 72 business hours for that review, and you should be ready to leave a copy. The office won’t accept deeds after 3 p.m. It also won’t give legal advice on how to fix a deed it sends back.
Build that review into a Porter closing. Lake’s posted fee sheet doesn’t mention a 72-business-hour hold, so don’t assume a Lake closing has one.
County offices
Where the county offices are
The fee doesn’t change from town to town inside a county. It changes between Lake and Porter, because Porter posts the $10 parcel fee and the auditor review. Start with the county, then the statement.
Lake County
Lake County Recorder
Lake County Government Center, 2293 North Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307. Phone on the fee sheet: (219) 755-3730.
A Crown Point, Munster, Schererville, or St. John purchase uses the Lake schedule.
Porter County
Porter County Recorder and Auditor
155 Indiana Avenue, Valparaiso, IN 46383. Main county phone (219) 465-3400.
A Valparaiso, Chesterton, or Portage purchase uses the Porter schedule, plus the $10 parcel fee and the auditor review.
Porter County Recorder fees | Porter County Auditor deeds page
Lender
The Closing Disclosure, three business days out
If you are financing, CFPB says the lender has to give you the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you close. It is a five-page form with the loan terms, your projected monthly payments, and the fees and other costs to get the mortgage. Use those days to set it next to the Loan Estimate you got earlier. Ask about any line that grew.
Points are optional. CFPB describes them as an upfront charge, figured as a percentage of the loan amount, that lowers the rate. You can choose not to pay them. We don’t quote a point cost. Read your Loan Estimate.
A cash purchase doesn’t get the mortgage Closing Disclosure. You still record a deed, and you still file a sales disclosure when the transfer requires one. Ask the title company for the settlement statement that lists those government fees and any title charges you agreed to pay.
The purchase agreement decides who pays each line. We won’t invent a county custom for it. Seller credits, if you negotiated them, show up on the statement too. Read the contract and the final statement together.
Taxes at the table
Property taxes show up at closing because the bill is tied to the parcel, and the contract says how buyer and seller divide it. We don’t print a per-day tax figure. It depends on that parcel’s bill, not the town name. Pull the current tax statement before you write.
After recording, confirm your homestead posted. The sales disclosure form can claim it, and the auditor still has to grant it when the form is complete and you qualify. The steps are on the Indiana homestead deduction page. For how Northwest Indiana bills differ by district, read Northwest Indiana property taxes on Real Estate USA.
Checklist
Before you wire
Four checks, in the order they come up on a purchase in Lake or Porter County.
Step 1
Match the statement to the contract
Match the Closing Disclosure, or the cash settlement statement, to the purchase agreement. Every government line should be a flat fee you can point to, or a provider charge with a name on it.
Step 2
Check the county lines
On a mortgage, confirm the deed line and the mortgage line: $25 and $55 on these county sheets, plus $5 for each extra oversize page. Confirm the sales disclosure fee is $20, or that your transfer is a no-fee case.
Step 3
Confirm the wire by phone
Scammers send fake emails, posing as the agent or the settlement agent, with new wiring instructions. Confirm the instructions with the title company by phone, using a number you already had. Never follow wiring instructions from an email.
Step 4
After closing
Keep the recorded deed information. If you will live there, check that the homestead is on the next bill.
In Porter County, look for the $10 per parcel transfer fee. Ask whether the auditor’s in-person review applies to your closing. That review takes at least 72 business hours, and the office takes no deeds after 3 p.m. In Lake County, don’t add Porter’s $10 unless the title company can show a Lake fee for it.
Buying now? Read Learn buying, Learn financing, and Offer to closing. Check the flood zone page before you write, too.
Selling and moving
Selling one home and buying another
If you sell and buy in the same stretch, each sale has its own statement. If the contract has the seller paying some of your costs, read Seller concessions.
Sellers guide: Sell with Realest | Learn selling. Read the Indiana seller’s disclosure page before you list.
Relocation guide: Relocation. Moving from Illinois? Start with the Illinois guide. Real Estate USA compares Indiana and Illinois closing costs and title.
Towns
Closing costs by town
Closing cost questions come up on purchases across Lake and Porter County. Start on the town page for the street you are comparing.
More towns: Communities | Towns guide. Short answers: Buyer closing costs in Northwest Indiana, Down payment, and Property taxes and the homestead on Ask Realest.
Home search and sold homes for Indiana and Illinois live on Realest.com, not on this site. Search there, then call the shop when a house makes the short list.
Living guides on Real Estate USA
Longer reads on closing, title, and moving
Real Estate USA publishes living guides on closing, title, taxes, and moving in Northwest Indiana. They are guides, not listings. Home search stays on Realest.com.
Closing and title
Closing cost questions
Buyer closing costs FAQ
Can I search homes on this site?
No. Home search and sold homes for Indiana and Illinois are on Realest.com, not on this site. This site has the town pages, the Learn guides, and the shop phone, (219) 801-0432. We are licensed in Indiana and Illinois.
What are buyer closing costs in Lake and Porter County?
They are what you pay to finish the purchase, in addition to the price. The government lines these counties post are flat: $25 to record a deed, $55 to record a mortgage, and a $20 sales disclosure fee to the county auditor unless an exemption applies. Porter also lists $10 per parcel to transfer a deed. Lender charges, title, insurance, and the property tax proration are on your Closing Disclosure or settlement statement. There isn’t one county percentage of the price.
What does it cost to record the deed and the mortgage?
The Lake and Porter recorder schedules, both effective January 1, 2021, list $25 for a deed or other instrument that isn’t a mortgage and $55 for a mortgage. Indiana Code 36-2-7-10 sets the same base amounts. Both sheets say the base fee includes one oversize page, and each additional page over 8½ by 14 inches is $5. A financed purchase records both documents. A cash purchase records the deed.
Is the sales disclosure fee a percentage of the price?
No. Indiana Code 6-1.1-5.5-4 and the DLGF overview of August 20, 2025 set a flat $20 fee to the county auditor. No fee is due for a transfer to a charity, a listed compulsory transaction, or a partition. Several contiguous parcels on one form are one $20 fee. The recorder sheets also charge flat fees, not a percentage of the sale price.
What does Porter charge that Lake’s fee sheet doesn’t list?
Porter’s auditor page lists $10 per parcel per deed, payable to the Porter County Auditor, in addition to the $20 sales disclosure fee. The Lake recorder schedule we checked doesn’t list that $10. Porter also reviews documents before it accepts a transfer. In-person filings need at least 72 business hours, and deeds aren’t accepted after 3 p.m. Don’t assume a Lake closing has the same hold.
When do I get the Closing Disclosure?
On a mortgage, CFPB says the lender must give you the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before closing. Set it next to the Loan Estimate. A cash purchase doesn’t get that mortgage form. Ask the title company for the settlement statement that lists the recording and disclosure fees.
Can the seller pay some of my closing costs?
It depends on the contract. CFPB says the contract or state law can put some costs on the seller, and you can negotiate a seller credit. CFPB also notes you can end up paying for that credit through a higher price. Read Seller concessions before you write. Selling a home too? Sellers guide: Sell with Realest | Learn selling. Moving from out of state? Relocation guide: Relocation.
How do I reach the shop?
Walk in at 112 S. Main St., Suite B, Crown Point, IN 46307, call (219) 801-0432, email saso@realest.com, or use Contact. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Ready for a human?
Talk to the shop before you sign
The lender and the title company answer for the numbers on your statement. Call the shop when you want a Realtor to go over the contract and the statement on a house you are buying. Search homes on Realest.com any time.
Realest112 S. Main St., Suite B
Crown Point, IN 46307
Phone: (219) 801-0432
Email: saso@realest.com
Hours: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Love Thy Neighbor
House photo: Wellington A. Clark House, Crown Point, by Nyttend, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Cropped. Crown Point square photo: Chris Light, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Valparaiso street photo: hakkun, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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More from Learn
This page is one of the short Learn pages. The Learn hub has the five main guides for buying, selling, financing, towns, and Illinois.
Search homes on Realest.com | Learn | Learn buying | Financing | Homestead deduction | Flood zones | Sellers guide | Learn selling | Seller’s disclosure | Relocation guide | Towns guide | Illinois guide | Communities | Buy | Ask | Contact
Disclaimer: This page is general information for buyers in Lake and Porter County. It is not legal, tax, or lending advice. Recording fees come from the Lake and Porter recorder schedules posted as effective January 1, 2021, and from Indiana Code 36-2-7-10. The sales disclosure fee comes from Indiana Code 6-1.1-5.5-4 and the DLGF overview of August 20, 2025. Porter’s parcel fee and review rule come from the Porter County Auditor page. Lender items come from CFPB. Checked in October 2026. Confirm your statement with the title company and the county before you wire funds.