Every document a Delaware sale commonly touches, who usually produces it, and the law behind it. In most sales the seller's own share is small, and this page shows you which part that usually is.
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In most sales nobody else prepares these. Whether each one applies to you depends on your home, your title, and your buyer.
These commonly arrive already written. Read them, and ask about anything that looks wrong before you sign.
Commonly handled by a title company, an attorney, a lender, or the county. Listed so none of them is a surprise.
Keighbor turns it into your actual steps, in order, with the deadlines on a calendar and somewhere to keep every signed copy. We're still building checkout, so setting up your room is free right now.
Set up my roomThe things people find out late here. None of this is a ruling on your sale, and every one of them ends with somebody who can actually answer it for you.
Delaware applies a withholding on the gain when the seller is not a Delaware resident, and it can be applied automatically if the residency certification is not in the recitals. There are exemption paths, including for a principal residence. They generally have to be claimed rather than granted.
Delaware requires an attorney at closing, and the file sits with them. That is generally a good thing for the paperwork, and it does mean a seller can find it hard to see where things stand. Asking for a status update is normal and worth doing regularly.
The broad shape of a sale there, as the research found it. Counties and cities add their own rules on top of all of this.
These come up in Delaware and almost nowhere else. We don't ask them above because we can't answer them for you yet, but they're worth raising with your title company.
This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.
These counts describe a typical sale, not yours. Which documents you need turns on facts about your home, your title, your buyer, and your county, and one unusual answer can add several or remove them.
Who prepares each document is what usually happens, not a rule. Practice differs between states, between counties, and between one title company and the next, and your contract can move work from one side to the other.
Keighbor is not a real estate brokerage and does not represent you. Nobody here is your agent. We don't negotiate, set your price, recommend a course of action, or take a commission. We provide software that helps you organize your side of the sale.
The rest of the research, with every citation kept. This is the same material our own product is built on, and nothing is held back for paying customers. It describes the law as the research found it, not as it applies to your sale.
Seller's Disclosure of Real Property Condition Report — 6 Del. C. § 2572 (duty), § 2578 (form). [SELLER]. APPEARS: Pre-listing / seller's disclosure packet.
Contents: all material defects known at the time the property is offered for sale or before final settlement. Timing: the disclosure "shall be made in writing before the seller signs the listing agreement" (§ 2572(b)) and must be given to all prospective buyers before an offer; the signed report becomes part of the Agreement of Sale, and must be updated for material changes before settlement. Consequences: non-delivery/omission exposes the seller to damages and buyer rescission.
Recent change: the current DREC condition report was approved July 1, 2023.
Official source: https://dprfiles.delaware.gov/realestate/ (DREC forms — free).
Deed (special or general warranty) — 25 Del. C. §§ 121–125. [ATTORNEY]; [NOTARY]. APPEARS: Recorded with the county after closing. Acknowledged before a notary.
Form 5402 — Realty Transfer Tax Return and Affidavit of Gain and Value — 30 Del. C. § 5402. [ATTORNEY]/[TITLE/ESCROW]. APPEARS: Filed with a government agency post-closing (presented at recording). Must be completed for all conveyances and presented at recording. Official source: https://revenuefiles.delaware.gov/.
Trigger — common-interest community (DUCIOA, created on/after Sept. 30, 2009):
Trigger — non-resident/out-of-state entity seller:
Trigger — existing residential dwelling:
Trigger — new construction (first sale):
Standard forms embed these via the DREC-approved PDF; a FSBO uses the identical free DREC form at dprfiles.delaware.gov.
Not exhaustive — notable examples include: Wilmington city realty transfer tax add-on and rental-license notices; municipal/county transfer tax where the locality has enacted the full 1.5% (raising the total to 4%); beach-town practices in Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach, and Lewes; Sussex County coastal zone and construction-control lines. Verify current municipal rates before quoting.
See 01-methodology-v2.md § 8 for the full federal overlay set: Title X lead-based paint (pre-1978); FIRPTA (26 U.S.C. § 1445); 1099-S (26 U.S.C. § 6045(e)); wire-fraud advisory; Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3601); RESPA/TRID.
FinCEN Residential Real Estate Rule (31 CFR 1031.320) — currently suspended. The Rule was effective March 1, 2026, but the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated it nationwide on March 19, 2026 in Flowers Title Companies, LLC v. Bessent. FinCEN filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit on May 11, 2026. A conflicting Middle District of Florida decision, Fidelity National Financial, Inc. v. Bessent, No. 3:25-cv-554-WWB-SJH (M.D. Fla.) (Feb. 19–20, 2026), upheld the Rule. Net effect for Delaware settlement attorneys: no filing obligation pending the Fifth Circuit appeal. Recheck currency before quoting.