Oakland County closing costs
The county-specific transfer tax and deed recording fees for Oakland County, Michigan - the local details that change your total beyond the statewide rate.
- Effective transfer tax
- 0.11%
- ≈ $440 on a $400,000 home
- Typical lender + 3rd-party fees
- $4,554
- median of 12,286 purchase loans · HMDA 2023
Oakland County compared with Michigan counties
In the verified Michigan county records we have, Oakland County's effective transfer-tax rate ranks #1 of 7 by highest rate. At $400,000, the county-specific transfer tax is $440, which is $3,000 below the state-level calculation before city surtaxes.
- County rank
- #1 of 7
- within verified Michigan county pages
- Tax at $400,000
- $440
- state baseline $3,440
- HMDA fee sample
- 12,286
- purchase loans in 2023
Oakland County transfer-tax data: official source linked on this page, reviewed 2026-Q2.
Transfer tax in Oakland County
Michigan is one of the few states with BOTH a state and a county real-estate transfer tax. Oakland County levies the standard county tax of $0.55 per $500 ($1.10/$1,000 = 0.0011) on top of the State Real Estate Transfer Tax (SRETT) of $3.75 per $500 ($7.50/$1,000 = 0.0075), for a combined $4.30/$500 ($8.60/$1,000). Both transfer taxes are customarily paid by the seller (the purchase agreement can reallocate). No Michigan city/municipality is authorized to levy its own real-estate transfer tax — it is purely state + county under MCL 207.504 (county) and 207.525 (state). Documents must state property value on their face or attach a value affidavit; transfer tax applies when value is $100 or more.
Recording fees in Oakland County
Flat $30.00 to record any document regardless of page count (this flat fee already includes the Michigan Remonumentation fee and the Register of Deeds Automation fee, so there is NO per-additional-page charge). Add $3.00 for each additional instrument assigned or discharged when a document assigns/discharges more than one instrument, and $3.00 for each additional referenced liber and page. A $5.00 Treasurer's Tax Certificate fee must be included in the recording payment for warranty deeds / land contracts / any deed with a covenant of warranty (which require tax certification) unless obtained directly from the Treasurer.
Official recorder: Oakland County recorder ↗ — the authoritative source for the current recording fee schedule.
What lenders actually charge in Oakland County
Across 12,286 home-purchase mortgages originated in Oakland County in 2023, the median total loan costs — lender fees plus third-party services such as appraisal and title, excluding prepaids and escrow — were $4,554, of which about $2,010 was the lender’s own origination charges. That is reported loan-level data from every lender under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act — not a national average — so it reflects what buyers in this county actually paid. Lender fees vary widely, so comparing a few rate quotes is the single biggest lever on your closing total.
Source: FFIEC HMDA Data Browser ↗ (2023 purchase originations, FIPS 26125, ODC-BY 1.0). Median total loan costs exclude prepaids and escrow.
Estimate your Oakland County closing costs
Pre-set to Michigan. County-level taxes above may add to this estimate.
Current source data is loading. Until it finishes, the amount shown is a server-rendered static example and the controls are disabled.
Frequently asked questions
What is the transfer tax in Oakland County?
Oakland County (Michigan): the applicable real-estate transfer tax works out to about 0.11%. Michigan is one of the few states with BOTH a state and a county real-estate transfer tax. Oakland County levies the standard county tax of $0.55 per $500 ($1.10/$1,000 = 0.0011) on top of the State Real Estate Transfer Tax (SRETT) of $3.75 per $500 ($7.50/$1,000 = 0.0075), for a combined $4.30/$500 ($8.60/$1,000). Both transfer taxes are customarily paid by the seller (the purchase agreement can reallocate). No Michigan city/municipality is authorized to levy its own real-estate transfer tax — it is purely state + county under MCL 207.504 (county) and 207.525 (state). Documents must state property value on their face or attach a value affidavit; transfer tax applies when value is $100 or more.
What are recording fees in Oakland County?
Flat $30.00 to record any document regardless of page count (this flat fee already includes the Michigan Remonumentation fee and the Register of Deeds Automation fee, so there is NO per-additional-page charge). Add $3.00 for each additional instrument assigned or discharged when a document assigns/discharges more than one instrument, and $3.00 for each additional referenced liber and page. A $5.00 Treasurer's Tax Certificate fee must be included in the recording payment for warranty deeds / land contracts / any deed with a covenant of warranty (which require tax certification) unless obtained directly from the Treasurer.
How much are closing costs in Oakland County?
Closing costs in Oakland County follow Michigan's structure plus this county's specific transfer-tax and recording fees. Use the calculator below for an estimate; for the exact recording schedule, the county recorder is the authoritative source.
What do lenders charge in fees in Oakland County?
In 2023, the median total loan costs — lender fees plus third-party services like appraisal and title, excluding prepaids and escrow — across 12,286 home-purchase mortgages in Oakland County were about $4,554, of which roughly $2,010 was the lender's own origination charges. This is reported loan-level data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; actual fees vary by lender, so comparing quotes matters.
Closest Michigan county comparisons
Sibling links are ordered by nearby verified effective transfer-tax rate, so each county page connects to genuinely comparable counties.