Seller guide
Selling a home in the Twin Cities: what to sort out before you list
Michael Affeldt, Realtor® · Counselor Realty · Licensed in Minnesota
Last checked 2026-10-02. Every legal statement names its source.
In short
- You are ready to list when you know your timing, your minimum net, what your city requires, and what you will disclose.
- Settle your timing and the least you can walk away with before you choose a list price.
- For each known condition problem, decide whether to fix it, price for it or leave it for the buyer to weigh. Disclosing it is a legal duty, not one of the options.
- Find out whether your city requires a point-of-sale inspection. Some metro cities do, and each city sets its own timing.
- Most Minnesota home sales carry the same statewide disclosures. Some add more: storage tanks, homes built before 1978, and homes in a common interest community (an association).
- Price from recent closed sales of comparable homes, not from asking prices.
This is general information, not legal, tax or lending advice. Every legal statement below names the source it came from, so you can check it yourself.
How do you know you are ready to list?
You are ready when you can answer four questions. When do you need to move? What is the least you can net? What does your city require? What will you disclose?
The sections below take them in that order. If you can answer all four, you are close. If several are still open, sort them out first: a question left open at listing usually comes back during the negotiation, when there is less time to deal with it.
How do you decide when to sell?
Start from your deadline and your next move, not from the calendar or the market.
- Is your date fixed (a job start, a lease ending, a school calendar) or flexible?
- Where are you going next: already secured, dependent on this sale, or undecided?
- If the home takes longer to sell than you expect, can you carry two housing payments for a while? If not, that affects your price and whether you buy or sell first. The buy before you sell guide covers the options for buying first.
How do you work out what you will walk away with?
Start from a realistic sale price and subtract every cost and payoff, so you know your minimum before you choose a list price.
Your net is roughly the sale price minus:
- the payoff on your mortgage and any home equity line (ask each lender for a written payoff statement; it usually differs from the balance on your monthly statement because of interest and fees);
- real estate commission, which is negotiable, and any compensation or concessions you agree to toward the buyer's side;
- title, closing and recording fees;
- the Minnesota deed tax and the county conservation fee, if the purchase agreement assigns them to you (it usually sets out who pays each closing cost);
- any repairs or credits you agree to after the buyer's inspection;
- property taxes prorated to the closing date, any special assessments the purchase agreement assigns to you, and any association dues or fees owed at closing.
Minnesota deed tax. The state deed tax is 0.33% of the net consideration (the sale price, less certain items) and is paid when the deed is recorded. In Hennepin and Ramsey counties an additional 0.01% Environmental Response Fund tax applies, for 0.34% in total. On a $400,000 sale that works out to $1,320, or $1,360 in Hennepin or Ramsey County. Who pays it is set by the purchase agreement, so ask to see it on your estimated net sheet.
Source: Minnesota Department of Revenue, Deed Tax Rate, https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/deed-tax-rate · checked 2026-10-02
County conservation fee. Each metropolitan county also collects a $5 fee on each deed recorded that is subject to the deed tax.
Source: Minn. Stat. 40A.152, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/40A.152 · checked 2026-10-02
Income tax on the gain is a separate question that depends on your circumstances. IRS Publication 523 explains the federal rules for selling a main home.
Source: IRS Publication 523, Selling Your Home, https://www.irs.gov/publications/p523 · checked 2026-10-02
General information about publicly available tax law, not tax advice. Individual circumstances change the answer. Verify with your CPA before acting.
What condition issues should you deal with before listing?
Deal first with the issues a buyer's inspector is most likely to raise: major systems near the end of their life, water, structure, and work that may not have had a permit.
- Roof, furnace, air conditioning or water heater near the end of its service life
- Visible deferred maintenance or unfinished projects
- Past water in the basement, foundation movement or drainage problems
- Additions or remodels where you are not sure a permit was pulled and closed (the city's permit records show what is on file)
- Sewer line, well or septic questions with no paperwork to answer them
For each item you have three choices: fix it, price the home to reflect it, or leave it for the buyer to weigh. Disclosure is not one of the choices. Minnesota requires a seller to disclose in writing, before a purchase agreement is signed, material facts the seller is aware of that could adversely and significantly affect an ordinary buyer's use or enjoyment of the property, or any intended use the seller is aware of.
Source: Minn. Stat. 513.55, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/513.55 · checked 2026-10-02
A pre-listing inspection is one way to find these items on your schedule rather than the buyer's. The seller's inspection checklist covers how to prepare for the buyer's inspection and what to do with the requests that follow.
What paperwork should you gather before you list?
Gather anything that answers a question a buyer, a lender or the city will ask.
- receipts and warranties for major work, and the permits for it;
- any radon test results and mitigation system details;
- well, septic and sewer line records, including any sewer camera video;
- any past point-of-sale or Truth in Sale of Housing report, and any city compliance certificate;
- for a home in a common interest community (many condominiums and townhomes): the governing documents and contact details for the association or its manager, since a resale disclosure certificate has to be ordered from the association;
- if the home is rented: the lease, deposit records and the city rental license, if your city requires one.
Does your city require a point-of-sale inspection?
It depends on the city the home is legally in, because these programs are set by individual cities. Some metro cities require one and others do not.
They come in two kinds:
- A whole-house evaluation, often called Truth in Sale of Housing (TISH). A licensed evaluator or a city inspector reviews the house against the city's housing standards. Each city sets when it must be done and whether repairs are required.
- A sewer inspection, often called an inflow and infiltration (I/I) inspection. It checks that sump pumps and other clear water connections do not drain into the sanitary sewer, and the sewer line is inspected by camera.
Here is what the five cities with a published guide on this site require:
| City | What is required | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| St. Paul | A TISH evaluation by a city-licensed evaluator, completed before the home is marketed. The report must be available to buyers within three calendar days of listing and is valid for one year. The report is for disclosure; the one repair the city requires in a single-family home is a working hard-wired smoke alarm. | Selling in St. Paul |
| Maplewood | A TISH evaluation by a city-licensed evaluator before the home is shown for sale. A copy goes to the buyer before a purchase agreement is signed. It is for disclosure; the sale is not contingent on the listed items. | Selling in Maplewood |
| Richfield | A Point of Sale Inspection by the city's inspectors and a Certificate of Housing Maintenance before ownership transfers. Required repairs must be completed and re-inspected before closing, unless the buyer takes them on under the city's escrow conditions. | Selling in Richfield |
| St. Anthony | Two inflow and infiltration inspections before the home is advertised and sold: a Public Works sump pump inspection and a televised sewer line inspection by a plumber the owner hires. These are the city's listed point-of-sale requirements. | Selling in St. Anthony |
| West St. Paul | An inflow and infiltration sewer inspection when the home is sold. The city states it has no Truth in Sale of Housing program, so the sewer inspection is its pre-sale inspection requirement. | Selling in West St. Paul |
Sources:
- St. Paul, Truth in Sale of Housing, https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/rent-buy-sell-property/selling-or-buying-properties/truth-sale-housing · checked 2026-10-02
- Maplewood, Truth in Sale of Housing, https://maplewoodmn.gov/1501/Truth-in-Sale-of-Housing · checked 2026-10-02
- Richfield, Point of Sale Inspections, https://www.richfieldmn.gov/departments/community_development/permits,_inspections___licenses/point_of_sale_inspections.php, and Point of Sale brochure, https://www.richfieldmn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/347 · checked 2026-10-02
- St. Anthony Village, Inflow and Infiltration, https://www.savmn.gov/599/Inflow-and-Infiltration · checked 2026-10-02
- West St. Paul, Inflow and Infiltration, https://wspmn.gov/403/Inflow-and-Infiltration, and Moving Information, https://wspmn.gov/140/Moving-Information · checked 2026-10-02
Minneapolis also runs a Truth in Sale of Housing program. There is no Minneapolis guide on this site yet, so check the city's page directly.
Source: City of Minneapolis, Truth in Sale of Housing, https://www.minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/property-housing/buying-selling/tish/ · checked 2026-10-02
Check the city, not the mailing address. A mailing address can name a different city from the one the home actually sits in. The county parcel record shows the municipality.
If your city is not listed, that means it has not been researched for a guide yet, not that it has no requirements. Call the city's inspections department, or ask me and I will look it up for your address.
What does a Minnesota seller have to disclose?
Most Minnesota home sales require written disclosures on the property's condition, radon, wells, sewage and any methamphetamine production, made before the purchase agreement is signed. Storage tanks, homes built before 1978, and homes in a common interest community add more.
The general seller disclosure law (Minn. Stat. 513.52 to 513.60) does not apply to some transfers, such as a transfer between certain family members, a foreclosure or a newly built home that has not been lived in.
Source: Minn. Stat. 513.54, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/513.54 · checked 2026-10-02
Required in most sales
Known material facts about the property. Before a purchase agreement is signed, the seller discloses in writing the material facts the seller is aware of that could adversely and significantly affect an ordinary buyer's use or enjoyment of the property. The seller and buyer can agree in writing to waive this disclosure, but the waiver does not waive disclosure duties under other laws.
Source: Minn. Stat. 513.55 and 513.60, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/513.55 and https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/513.60 · checked 2026-10-02
Radon. Before signing a purchase agreement, the seller gives the buyer a written radon disclosure covering what the seller knows: whether the home has been tested, the most current test records, any known concentrations, any mitigation system, and the statutory radon warning statement. The seller also gives the buyer the Minnesota Department of Health publication "Radon in Real Estate Transactions."
Source: Minn. Stat. 144.496, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/144.496 · checked 2026-10-02
Wells. Before signing an agreement to sell, the seller discloses in writing the location and status of every well the seller knows of. At recording, the deed must either state that the seller knows of no wells or come with a well disclosure certificate.
Source: Minn. Stat. 103I.235, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/103I.235 · checked 2026-10-02
Sewage. Before signing an agreement to sell, the seller states in writing whether the property's sewage goes to a permitted facility, such as a city sewer, or does not. If it does not (a septic system, for example), the disclosure adds a description and map of the system, what the seller knows about its compliance status, any known abandoned system, and a copy of any previous inspection report the seller has. If the home has a septic system, ask your county or city whether a compliance inspection is also required at sale.
Source: Minn. Stat. 115.55, subd. 6, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/115.55 · checked 2026-10-02
Methamphetamine production. Before signing an agreement to sell, the seller discloses in writing whether, to the seller's knowledge, methamphetamine production has occurred on the property.
Source: Minn. Stat. 152.0275, subd. 2, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/152.0275 · checked 2026-10-02
Required in some sales
Storage tanks. A seller who knows the property has an underground or aboveground storage tank must tell the buyer in writing about the owner's notification requirements, and before the transfer must record an affidavit with the county describing the tank and any known release.
Source: Minn. Stat. 116.48, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/116.48 · checked 2026-10-02
Lead-based paint (federal, homes built before 1978). The seller discloses any known lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards, provides any available reports, gives the buyer the EPA lead hazard pamphlet, includes the lead warning statement in the contract, and gives the buyer a 10-day opportunity to test for lead, which the buyer may waive.
Source: U.S. EPA, Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards, https://www.epa.gov/lead/real-estate-disclosures-about-potential-lead-hazards · checked 2026-10-02
Homes in a common interest community. This applies if your condominium or townhome is part of a common interest community under Minnesota's Common Interest Ownership Act; ask the association if you are not sure. On a resale, the owner gives the buyer the association's governing documents and a resale disclosure certificate from the association, dated within 90 days, before the purchase agreement is signed or otherwise before conveyance. The association must provide the certificate within ten days of your request and may charge a reasonable fee, so order it early.
Source: Minn. Stat. 515B.4-107, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/515B.4-107 · checked 2026-10-02
These summaries are not a substitute for the statutes. If one of them could apply to your property, read the source or ask an attorney.
How should you set the list price?
Set it from recent closed sales of comparable homes, adjusted for condition and features, not from asking prices or an online estimate.
- Active listings show your competition. They do not show what buyers paid.
- Buyers who have been watching the market tend to look at a new listing early. A price the closed sales do not support can mean fewer of those early showings and a later price change.
- If the buyer is financing, the lender orders an appraisal. A price well above comparable sales raises the chance of a low appraisal, which usually means renegotiating or the buyer covering the difference in cash.
- Decide in advance what you will look at if the response is slower than expected: showing numbers, feedback, and how the home compares with what has sold since you listed.
Ready to apply this to your home?
If you want this checklist applied to your own address, including what your city requires, ask me what your home is worth, or call me.
Home value request: michaelaffeldthomes.com/#val · Call or text (612) 440-4673
I reply personally, usually the same day and always within one business day.