Here is something nobody tells sellers: in my experience, the thing that delays a Southern Illinois closing is almost never the money. The buyer is approved, the appraisal came in, everybody wants to close. What holds it up is a missing piece of paper — a septic record nobody can find, a survey that is thirty years old, a permit that was never pulled for the sunroom in 1998.
And the maddening part is that every one of those is free to solve in September and expensive to solve in the middle of a 30-day contract. Not expensive in dollars. Expensive in leverage. A buyer who is sitting on a rate lock while you hunt for a well test is a buyer who starts asking for things.
So this Sunday, no ladders and no flashlights. Just go find these nine things.
1. The Deed
📜 Read the Names on It
Find it and actually read it. Is every owner still living? Is a former spouse still on it? Did a parent pass away and the property never get moved out of their name? Is it held in a trust, and if so, do you have the trust document?
These are all fixable. They are just not fixable in eleven days. Title work that starts with a surprise on the vesting is the single most common reason a closing date moves in this business, and every version of it is easier to handle before there is a buyer waiting.
2. The Survey — However Old It Is
📏 Pull It Out, Do Not Judge It
If you have one, put it in the folder. Do not decide for yourself that it is too old to matter, and do not assume it is fine either. Whether a lender or title company will accept an existing survey depends on its age, on whether anything has changed since, and on the loan.
On an acreage parcel, the risk is scheduling. There are only so many surveyors working this end of the state, and “we need a new survey” discovered in week two of a contract is a timeline problem, not a budget problem.
3. Septic: Pumping Records, Permit, Any Inspection
🗺 The Rural Southern Illinois Special
If you are on septic, this is your highest-value item on the page. Find the pumping receipts, the original permit if it exists, and anything from the health department. Many buyers — and several loan programs — will want a septic inspection before closing.
Having the history in hand does two things: it tells a buyer the system has been maintained, and it gets you ahead of a scheduling bottleneck. A handful of people in each county do these inspections, and they get busy.
4. Well Records and the Last Water Test
💧 Depth, Date, Results
Same idea. If you are on a well, find the driller’s log if you have it, any pump replacement receipt, and the most recent water test. If you have never had the water tested, that is worth knowing now rather than in escrow.
A seller who hands over a clean water test unprompted is a seller who looks like they have nothing to hide. That is worth something, and it costs almost nothing.
5. Permits for Anything You Built
🛠 The Deck, the Sunroom, the Garage, the Pole Barn
Any addition, deck, detached garage, finished basement or electrical upgrade — find the permit and the final inspection. If there isn’t one, say so out loud, early, to your broker.
Unpermitted work is extremely common on houses of a certain age around here, and it is almost always workable. What is not workable is an appraiser finding it in week two. Told up front, it is a conversation. Discovered late, it is the buyer’s new negotiating position.
6. The Propane Tank Paperwork
🔥 Do You Own It or Rent It?
A lot of people genuinely do not know. If it is leased, find the lease and the company name, because the tank does not transfer with the house and the buyer has to be told. If you own it, find the bill of sale so you can prove it.
Small item, five minutes, and it is on the short list of things that generate a confused phone call three days before closing.
7. HOA, Road Association, and Easement Documents
🛣 Who Maintains the Road?
If you are on a private or shared drive, out at the lake, or in any subdivision with dues, gather the covenants, the dues statement, and anything describing who maintains what. Shared-driveway and road-maintenance questions come up constantly on rural and lake properties, and buyers’ lenders ask about them.
Also grab anything mentioning an easement — utility, access, or otherwise. It will show up in the title commitment regardless. Better that you saw it first.
8. Your Mortgage, Tax, and Insurance Facts
🏦 The Numbers That Build Your Net Sheet
Lender name, loan number, roughly what you owe, and whether there is a second mortgage, a home equity line, or a solar or HVAC financing agreement attached to the property. Add your most recent property tax bill and your homeowner’s insurance declarations page.
This is what a real net sheet is built from. Without it, any number a broker gives you for your proceeds is an educated guess — and in Illinois, where taxes are paid a year behind and prorated at closing, the guess can be off by more than people expect.
9. The Systems Folder from Last Sunday
📝 Tie It Together
Last week’s homework ended with keeping one folder of service receipts and install dates. Put it with these. Roof, furnace, water heater, any major repair, plus the manuals and warranties if you still have them.
Now you have one thing you can hand to a broker on day one — and hand a buyer at closing. Both matter.
The Honest Version of Why This Works
There is no magic here. Nothing on this list raises your list price by a dollar. What it does is remove the pauses — the three days waiting on a records request, the week waiting on a septic inspector, the surprise on the title commitment that sends everyone back to the lawyer. Every pause in a contract is an opening, and buyers use openings.
A contract that closes on the original date, with nothing renegotiated after the inspection, is worth more than a slightly higher accepted offer that bleeds for six weeks. Ask anybody who has been on both sides of that.
✅ Print This: The Paper Nine
- The deed — read the names and check the vesting
- Any survey you have, however old
- Septic: pumping records, permit, prior inspections
- Well: driller’s log, pump receipts, last water test
- Permits and final inspections for anything built or finished
- Propane tank lease or bill of sale
- HOA, road association, covenants, easements
- Mortgage payoff info, tax bill, insurance declarations
- The systems folder — roof, furnace, water heater, repairs
Two Illinois Items You Will Be Handed Anyway
When you list, you will be asked to complete the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Report and a radon disclosure. You do not need to fill them out today — but read them this week. They ask specific questions about things like water in the basement, the condition of the septic system, and known defects, and they are much easier to answer accurately with the folder you just built sitting in front of you than from memory on a Tuesday afternoon.
Answer them honestly and completely. A disclosure filled out carefully protects you far better than a disclosure filled out fast.
📄 Not Sure Which of These Apply to Your Property?
Send us your address and we’ll tell you what your closing is actually going to need — septic, survey, easements, the works — plus what the house is worth today. We run sales, mortgage and title under one roof, so this is the same list our own closers work from.
Pre-Listing Paperwork FAQ
What paperwork do I need to sell a house in Illinois?
Do I need a new survey to sell my house?
What if I built a deck or an addition without a permit?
Does septic and well paperwork really matter that much?
How far ahead of listing should I do this?
📱 Got a Question About Your House? Text Greg.
Not sure whether something on this list applies to your property? Text Greg Holthaus directly — just tell him you saw his blog. He’ll give you a straight answer, match you with the right broker, and tell you honestly if the answer is “don’t worry about it.”
Text Greg · 618.925.8654
Who is Greg Holthaus?
Greg Holthaus is the Owner and Designated Managing Broker of Southern Illinois Realty Experts, with 25+ years in Southern Illinois real estate and more than 10,000 transactions closed. He leads a full-service operation — home sales, mortgage, title, and property management under one roof — with offices in Marion, Herrin, and Carbondale. Meet Greg ›
About this post: General pre-listing guidance based on 25+ years of listing, closing and titling properties across Southern Illinois. It is not legal advice, title advice, or a statement of what any particular lender, title company, county or health department will require — those requirements vary by property, by loan program, and by jurisdiction, and they change. Nothing here is a guarantee of sale price, closing date, or outcome. Questions about vesting, trusts, estates, liens or unpermitted work should go to an attorney. Want a specific read on your address? Ask us for a Comparative Market Analysis and we’ll walk through both the number and the paperwork your closing is likely to need.