What a Virginia homebuyer pays at closing

You get a Loan Estimate after you apply. The lender must give it to you within three business days of receiving your application. It lists estimated closing costs and a line called Estimated Cash to Close. The form also separates services you cannot shop for from services you can shop for.

The Closing Disclosure comes at least three business days before your scheduled closing. Compare it with the Loan Estimate line by line. Cash to close is the total you bring on closing day, in addition to any money you have already paid, such as earnest money. It should match your latest Loan Estimate, or the lender should explain why it does not.

Common closing costs include an appraisal, tax service fees, title insurance, government taxes, and prepaid expenses such as property taxes, homeowners insurance, and interest from closing until your first payment. What you pay depends on the price, the loan amount, the loan type, and the locality. A Loan Estimate is how you see your own number. I will not guess a typical percentage. If you are buying your first home, start with the first-time homebuyer page. Get pre-qualified when you want an estimate built on your numbers.

Virginia charges this tax to put your deed and your loan on the public record. The state tax on the deed is 25 cents on every $100, or fraction of $100, of the price or the actual value, whichever is greater. The value is the most recent property tax assessment.

The state tax on the deed of trust, which is the mortgage, is 25 cents on every $100 of the loan amount. A city or county may add a local recordation tax equal to one-third of the state tax. The same one-third local tax is restated for the recordation of the writing. The statute does not name who pays the recordation tax on the buyer's side. It is customarily the buyer, and the contract controls.

Fairfax County's land records schedule, effective July 1, 2026, lists the state tax at $0.25 per $100 and the county tax at $0.083 per $100. I am not quoting a local figure for Arlington or for other counties. Use the Virginia courts' Deed Calculation tool for the exact tax on your deed. The Circuit Court page links to that same tool.

Virginia's exemption list does not include a general first-time buyer exemption. Clerk recording fees are small and differ by court, so I will not quote them.

Example only, not a quote. Per $100,000 of price or assessed value on the deed, in a locality that adds the one-third local tax, the state portion is $250 and the local portion is about $83. That illustration is for the deed only. Check it with the Deed Calculation tool.

The same illustration applies per $100,000 of loan amount on the deed of trust: $250 state and about $83 local. It is not paired with a purchase price. Check that figure separately with the Deed Calculation tool.

What people call the transfer tax in Virginia is usually the grantor tax, plus two regional fees in Northern Virginia. Transfer tax is the everyday name. It is not the name in the statute.

The grantor tax is 50 cents for each $500, or fraction of $500, of the price or value, whichever is greater, not counting a lien that stays on the property. The statute says the grantor pays it. The same section lets the buyer and seller agree that the buyer pays some or all of it.

Two more fees apply in Northern Virginia, and the statute puts each on the seller unless the contract shifts it. The regional WMATA capital fee is $0.10 per $100. It applies in Northern Virginia Transportation Authority localities: the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park.

The regional congestion relief fee is also $0.10 per $100. The statute ties the revenue in Planning District 8, which is Northern Virginia, to that fee, and it is paid by the grantor unless you agree otherwise. Fairfax and Prince William both list these fees on their circuit court schedules. Read your contract to see whether any of this has moved to you.

The other buckets are lender charges, title and settlement, and prepaids. Lender charges can include origination, discount points you choose, the appraisal, and the credit report. I will not quote those fees.

Title and settlement can include the settlement agent fee, a title search, the lender's title policy, and an optional owner's title policy. The lender's policy protects the lender. The owner's policy protects you, lasts as long as you or your heirs own the property, and is a one-time premium paid at closing. You choose the title insurer. In Virginia, title companies set their own rates and can negotiate. Who pays the premium is local custom, not the law, so it can be a negotiation point. Ask your settlement agent whether a reissue credit applies if the seller already bought an owner's policy. I will not name a title company.

Prepaids and escrow are amounts you pay ahead, such as homeowners insurance, property taxes, and interest from closing until your first payment. The CFPB lists these with the other common closing costs.

If you want the overview of how buying works with me, that page is the place.

A seller credit toward closing costs is something you negotiate in the contract. Each loan type caps how much the seller can contribute, and the caps change. The CFPB notes that a seller will usually want a higher price, so you are still paying for these costs, and a lender credit usually means a larger loan or a higher interest rate. They are not free. I will not quote an interest rate.

On a VA loan, the buyer and seller can negotiate who pays closing costs. The list includes the loan origination fee, discount points, the VA appraisal fee, state and local taxes, title insurance, and the recording fee. VA does not limit credits for a loan's closing costs, but it limits seller concessions to 4% of the home's reasonable value. The funding fee can be paid at closing or financed, and some veterans are exempt, including veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability. I will not quote the funding fee percentages. Only that fee is the financing path I can confirm from VA's page. Ask your loan officer whether any other closing cost can be included in your purchase loan. The VA loans guide covers eligibility.

Conventional loans cap seller contributions based on your down payment. Fannie Mae publishes the tiers. I will not restate them here. FHA also caps seller contributions. Ask your loan officer for the current limit.

Using gift money? That has its own rules. Ask your loan officer.

Your loan officer can tell you the limit for your loan and how a credit would show on your Loan Estimate.