Nearly 44% of homes listed for sale in 2025 came with a monthly HOA fee. That’s from a Realtor.com report out in January 2026. In Texas, plenty of those homes sit in subdivisions and townhome communities, so a lot of sales here involve somebody settling up with an association. Too often, who writes that check gets sorted out in a rush, days before funding.
Who Pays HOA Fees at Closing: Buyer or Seller?
A seller called me the week of her closing, upset about a line item no one had brought up. Her agent had told her the buyer would pay anything tied to the HOA, but her contract said the opposite in plain English.
In Texas, that answer usually lives in one form. Most resale contracts here use the TREC addendum for property in a mandatory owners association, now TREC No. 36-11. Paragraph C says the buyer pays the association’s transfer fees, deposits, reserves, and other transfer charges up to a dollar amount filled in on the form. The seller pays anything over that.
Watch that blank. If it’s left empty or set too low, the seller can end up covering most of the HOA bill. Read the addendum and the rest of the purchase agreement line by line before you sign. Together, they win over whatever your neighbor went through last spring.
Dues are separate. Sellers owe them through closing day, and buyers take on the costs that look forward, like the first month of dues after closing or a payment into the reserve fund. If the monthly dues are the real strain, read up on how to get out of paying HOA dues on your home.
How Much Are Typical HOA Closing Costs?
If you’re about to list, plan on this: HOA transfer fees in Texas tend to run from $100 to $400. That’s only the start. A resale certificate, a document package, a charge for using the online portal, and a rush fee if your title company orders late can all stack on top.
Townhome sellers often feel it most. Each charge looks small on its own, and then the association’s whole total comes out of your proceeds in one lump on closing day. Some of those charges can be trimmed, and there are other ways to avoid closing costs on a Texas home sale worth knowing before you sign.
A few years back, a longtime landlord in Mesquite, Texas reached out after two listings expired with no offers. His duplex had a garage full of tenant leftovers, and the HOA took eleven days just to answer a simple request for documents. We closed on a Friday with the association paid and nothing left for him to chase. If you own a place there, here’s how we buy houses in Mesquite TX as-is.
What Do HOA Transfer Fees Cover?
Paying a few hundred dollars for what shows up as a PDF can feel steep. The association’s management company is billing for the work behind it. It isn’t just a file. Someone updates the owner ledger, issues new gate fobs or pool codes, sets up billing for the new owner, and pulls the documents the buyer’s lender wants to see. It adds up.
The resale certificate matters most. Texas Property Code Section 207.003 spells out what goes in it for subdivision and townhome associations. It lists the regular dues, any special assessments already approved, all unpaid amounts on the property, the transfer fees, and whether the HOA rules allow foreclosure for unpaid assessments.
Texas also limits what the HOA can charge for it. Since September 1, 2021, the cap has been $375 for a resale certificate and $75 for an update. The association has 10 business days to deliver one after a proper written request. Condos are handled under a different statute, so a condo owner should ask which rules apply.
How Are HOA Fees Prorated at Closing?
You pay for the days you owned the house. Not one day more. That’s the rule.
Say your association bills quarterly, you already paid the full quarter, and you close halfway through it. The title company splits that bill by calendar days and credits you for the rest of the quarter. That share moves to the new owner. Both halves show on the settlement statement.
If the quarter hasn’t been paid yet, it flips. You get charged for your days, and the new owner gets a credit for them. Plenty of Texas HOAs bill once a year, and annual dues work the same way with a bigger number to divide. Quarterly and annual bills leave more room for a math slip than monthly ones, so I’d check the HOA proration line myself.
Do Sellers Owe Unpaid HOA Dues Before Closing?
Some sellers treat back dues like an old utility bill they can mail in after the move. The association won’t wait that long. In Texas, a lien usually attaches to the house once you fall behind, and a title company won’t insure over one. The balance comes out of your proceeds whether you planned for it or not.
Texas HOAs can also foreclose for unpaid assessments when their governing documents allow it. The Property Code does set some limits. Under Section 209.009, an HOA can’t foreclose a lien made up only of fines, or attorney’s fees tied only to those fines. If an HOA does foreclose, Section 209.011 gives the former owner 180 days from the post-foreclosure notice to buy the home back, and that means paying the full balance plus fees.
Late charges and interest pile on top of what you owed. If you’re behind and still want to list, ask the management company for a written payoff before the sign goes up. That number only grows while you wait.
Southern Hills Home Buyers buys houses with HOA liens on them all the time. Knowing the real payoff early keeps a closing from falling apart in week three. You can read more about our company and how we work before you call.
Can Buyers Negotiate HOA Fees at Closing?
Yes, and almost every HOA item is on the table. The dollar cap in Paragraph C of the TREC addendum is the first place to look.
That same addendum lets the two sides choose who gets the resale certificate. The seller can order it and pay for it, or the buyer can get it at the buyer’s own cost. Either way, the buyer can back out within 3 days of getting it.
In slower markets, buyers often ask sellers to cover these costs. Where homes sell fast, sellers can push more of the transfer charges back to the buyer. Progressive puts typical buyer closing costs at 2% to 5% of the purchase price. A few hundred dollars in HOA charges is real money, though it seldom sinks a sale on its own.
Buyers have a good reason to read that certificate closely before they sign off, too. Skip it, and a buyer could end up stuck with someone else’s past-due balance. Lenders know that, which is why most want one.
A woman in Round Rock, Texas was settling her father’s estate the same month her mother moved into assisted living. His condo had a leaking water heater, three years of board letters in a kitchen drawer, and dues that had quietly fallen behind. Selling direct let her skip showings. I’ve seen that take a lot of weight off people who are also caring for family. If you’re in that area, here’s how to sell your house fast in Round Rock TX.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Owns the Home on the Day of Closing?
The house changes hands at closing, once the deed is signed and handed over. The deed usually records the same day funds go out, or shortly after. Before that point the house is yours, and after it, the buyer’s. Proration at closing follows that same line.
Who Pays the HOA Transfer Fee at Closing?
In Texas, the TREC HOA addendum decides it. The buyer pays transfer charges up to the amount written in Paragraph C, and the seller pays anything above it. Ask the management company for the amount in writing early, so the number in that blank is a real one.
Who Pays Most of the Closing Cost?
Sellers do, once agent commissions are counted. Clever Real Estate’s Texas data puts combined seller closing costs and agent fees near 8.87% of the sale price, with commissions as the biggest piece. Buyers pay less in total, but they face lender fees, prepaid taxes, and escrow funding on top of their down payment.
What Happens If HOA Dues Are Unpaid at Closing?
The title company takes them out of the seller’s proceeds and pays the association before issuing the policy. If proceeds don’t cover the balance, the seller brings cash to the table or the sale doesn’t fund. Nobody hands the problem to the buyer.
How Do I Find My Hoa’s Transfer Fee Before Listing?
Call the management company and ask for resale certificate pricing and transfer fees in writing. A self-managed association may send you to a board member instead, which takes longer, so start two or three weeks before you plan to list.
What This Looks Like in Practice
You’ll see the same pattern most times a Texas HOA home changes hands. Current dues get split by the day. Transfer charges follow the cap in the TREC addendum, and unpaid association balances come off the seller’s side. Any of it can change in the contract, as long as someone raises it before the settlement statement is drafted.
Sellers who get caught off guard often think the association will sort it out quietly. The ones who don’t made one phone call, got a number in writing, and planned around it.
Own a house in a Texas HOA community where the dues got away from you? Maybe it needs work you’d rather not pay for before you list. It costs nothing to see what a direct offer looks like. Reach out whenever you’re ready, and we can go over the numbers with no obligation on your end. When you’d like to talk it through, contact us here and share a few details about the house.