Delaware’s home-buying process shares the same broad stages as most states — offer, inspection, financing, title, closing — but it runs through a legal framework that’s genuinely unusual: Delaware is one of the strictest attorney-closing states in the country, the transfer tax is meaningfully higher than most neighboring states, and the disclosure requirement kicks in earlier in the process than it does almost anywhere else. This walks through where Delaware’s process diverges from the generic version.
Every Delaware closing has to be run by a licensed attorney
This is the single most consequential fact about buying in Delaware. The Delaware Supreme Court has held that nearly every function of a real estate settlement — preparing the closing documents, rendering a title opinion, disbursing the funds — constitutes the practice of law. That means a Delaware-licensed attorney must conduct every real estate settlement in the state, residential or commercial, purchase or refinance. Settlement or title companies can provide support services, but they cannot independently run the closing, and an attorney has to directly supervise the disbursement of settlement funds. A non-attorney doing either of those things is committing the unauthorized practice of law and can face real sanctions.
Practically, this means your attorney (whether you hire your own or use one provided through the transaction) is a central, required part of every Delaware purchase from the outset — there’s no title-company-only path the way there is in most states.
The title search, and where the records live
Your closing attorney will have a title search run against the county’s recorded history before settlement. In Delaware, the Assessment Office values property for tax purposes, and the Recorder of Deeds maintains the recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens the search covers. RefPages’ County Records directory links to your specific county’s Assessment Office and Recorder of Deeds search tools.
The realty transfer tax is one of the higher ones on the East Coast
Delaware’s realty transfer tax starts at a 3% state rate, but it drops to 2.5% in any county or municipality that’s enacted its own full 1.5% local transfer tax rate — which is effectively the case across the state’s three counties, so the state share is usually 2.5% in practice, not the full 3%. Add the local piece back in and the combined rate runs to 4% in New Castle County and roughly 3.5% in Kent and Sussex counties — a meaningfully higher combined rate than most nearby states. Unless the purchase contract says otherwise, the tax is split evenly between buyer and seller. First-time homebuyers can reduce their share by 0.5% of the price, capped at a set dollar amount, by filing the appropriate form at closing — ask your attorney whether you qualify.
Sellers have to disclose known defects before you even make an offer
Delaware’s Buyer Property Protection Act requires the seller to give you a written disclosure of every known material defect before you make an offer to purchase — earlier in the process than the “before closing” or “before contract” standard many states use. The disclosure has to be on the state’s approved Property Condition Report form (developed by the Delaware Real Estate Commission), and it has to be updated if something material changes before final settlement. It’s described in the statute as a good-faith disclosure, not a warranty — it doesn’t guarantee the property is defect-free, only that the seller has told you what they actually know. A handful of transfer types are exempt, including foreclosure and sheriff’s sales, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, and transfers between family members or co-owners.
After closing
If an inspection turns up something that needs permitted work — before or after you move in — RefPages’ Building Permit Departments directory links to the relevant city or county permitting office. Because your closing attorney is already involved in every Delaware purchase, they’re also a reasonable first call if a permit or title question comes up after you’ve closed.