Closing costs in DC vs MD vs VA

[Anonymous]

Are they substantially different? Any good resources or tips to estimate what to expect?

[Anonymous]

I’ve closed in MD and VA but not DC. MD is definitely more expensive. The biggest driver of this is Maryland’s transfer tax. If you never owned in Maryland before, even if you owned in another state, you get to be a first time Maryland home buyer and avoid the state portion of the buyer transfer tax - .25%. Montgomery County charges another 1% divided half to seller and half to buyer. You can’t avoid that and it adds thousands to closing costs.

Virginia has a recordation tax instead of a transfer tax. It varies by location but is much cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve closed in MD and VA but not DC. MD is definitely more expensive. The biggest driver of this is Maryland’s transfer tax. If you never owned in Maryland before, even if you owned in another state, you get to be a first time Maryland home buyer and avoid the state portion of the buyer transfer tax - .25%. Montgomery County charges another 1% divided half to seller and half to buyer. You can’t avoid that and it adds thousands to closing costs.

Virginia has a recordation tax instead of a transfer tax. It varies by location but is much cheaper.

THats very helpful, hands! Anyone with a DC perspective?

[Anonymous]

DC transfer tax:

Seller pays 1.45% and buyer pays another 1.45%