Look up "Virginia transfer tax" and you'll get a number that seems too small to matter: 0.10%. On Virginia's statewide median sale price of $453,389, that's $453. Less than a home inspection.
It's a real number, and it's not your number. Virginia's 0.10% is a grantor's tax — the grantor is the seller, the person handing over the deed. The buyer is charged separately, on a different basis, at a rate two and a half times higher.
That's the shape of closing in Virginia: the tax everybody quotes is the seller's, and it distracts from the buyer-side recordation taxes that move your cash to close. Because most cities and counties layer their own share on the state rate, your total depends on which side of a county line the house sits.
None of this makes Virginia expensive; the line items worth checking just aren't the ones the headline rate points at. For how each fee works, start with our full line-by-line breakdown of closing costs.
A note before you start: this is general education, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Every figure below is a statewide number from CalculatorByState's sourced dataset, and your city or county, lender, settlement agent, and contract will all move the total. Virginia's local recordation add-ons are set locality by locality, so the only rate that matters is the one for the jurisdiction you're buying in — confirm it with your settlement agent rather than assuming the statewide figure. Your Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure are authoritative. Use this to sanity-check them, not to replace them.
1. What closing costs actually run in Virginia
A 2% to 3.4% range against Virginia's $453,389 median sale price gives you roughly $9,068 to $15,415, midpoint around $12,242. On a $350,000 purchase the same range is about $7,000 to $11,900.
The range is wide for a reason: the low end is lender, title, and settlement fees before taxes, the high end adds prepaids — property tax and homeowners insurance funded up front, real cash but not really "fees." What prepaids are and why they inflate your cash to close explains most of why two quotes on the same house differ by thousands.
Closing costs sit on top of your down payment, not inside it. On a $453,389 purchase with 20% down you finance $362,711 and put down $90,678; add the $12,242 midpoint and you need about $102,920 in cash. That total, not the monthly payment, is what stops most Virginia purchases.
See your all-in Virginia closing costs2. The grantor's tax is the seller's tax
Virginia's transfer tax on the sale is the state recordation tax under Va. Code § 58.1-802, the grantor's tax: 50 cents per $500 of the greater of sale price or assessed value, or 0.10%. On a $453,389 home that's $453; on a $350,000 home, $350.
By custom the seller pays it. But custom is not law: the contract can say otherwise, and absorbing the grantor's tax is a cheap concession in a competitive market — real dollars to the seller without touching the appraised value.
Just don't mistake it for your total — it's the smallest tax on the page.
3. The recordation taxes on your side
Here's where the buyer's money goes. Virginia charges the grantee — you — twice:
- On the deed, under Va. Code § 58.1-801: 25 cents per $100, or 0.25% of value — about $1,133 on $453,389.
- On the deed of trust, under Va. Code § 58.1-803: another 25 cents per $100, or 0.25% of the debt secured — $907 on a $362,711 loan.
Together that's roughly $2,040 on a median-priced purchase with 20% down, more than four times the seller's $453. The second scales with your loan, not your price: borrow more and it rises, put more down and it falls.
It's the line item most worth understanding before you sign: fully knowable in advance, non-negotiable once known.
4. Your city or county almost certainly adds its own share
The 0.25% above is the statewide floor, not the number on your Closing Disclosure. Va. Code § 58.1-814 lets cities and counties add a local recordation tax of up to one-third of the state tax, and most do — at the common add-on of about $0.083 per $100, the combined rate lands near 0.33%.
Against the same $362,711 loan, that's about $1,197, versus $907 at the state rate alone. Fairfax County's local add-on is roughly $0.17 per $100, a combined rate near 0.42%, or about $1,523.
Don't reverse-engineer your own rate: local schedules are set jurisdiction by jurisdiction, so get the figure in writing from your settlement agent or the clerk of the circuit court. The spread between the floor and a high-add-on locality is a few hundred dollars — not ruinous, but not a closing-day surprise.
5. Northern Virginia has a second grantor's tax
In the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority region — Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties, plus the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park — an additional regional grantor's tax of 0.10% applies.
That takes the grantor's tax there to 0.20% combined: about $907 on a $453,389 sale, versus $453 elsewhere.
It's a seller-side charge by custom, so it doesn't hit your cash to close. But it shapes what a seller can concede: a Northern Virginia seller already carries double the grantor's tax of one in Roanoke.
6. Who actually closes your loan here
Virginia fits neither standard label: not a strict attorney state, not a pure escrow state. Under the Real Estate Settlement Agents Act, an attorney supervises the settlement and prepares or reviews the deed, but the closing is conducted by a licensed settlement agent — a title company, real estate broker, or financial institution registered with the Virginia State Bar.
In practice you'll sit with a settlement agent, not a lawyer, with attorney oversight behind the transaction. Whether a separate attorney line appears on your Closing Disclosure depends on who you hire, so ask up front.
You choose your settlement agent, and their fee varies between providers. Title insurance works the same here as everywhere — what title insurance covers and who it actually protects is worth five minutes.
7. How to lower the bill before you sign
- Get your locality's combined recordation rate in writing. The gap between the typical rate and a high-add-on locality is a few hundred dollars, and it costs nothing to ask.
- Model your down payment against the tax, not just the payment. The 0.25% deed-of-trust tax runs on the loan amount — $907 at 20% down on the median home, more if you borrow more.
- Shop the settlement agent. You pick them, and neither their fee nor the title premium is fixed by the state.
- Ask for a seller credit rather than a price cut if cash is tight. Sellers already expect to carry the grantor's tax, so it's a familiar conversation.
- Compare your Loan Estimate to your Closing Disclosure. Some items may change and some may not; how to read a Loan Estimate line by line covers the tolerances.
Budget for escrow funding too — cash you'll never see itemized as a fee: how escrow accounts get funded at closing.
Frequently asked questions
How much are closing costs in Virginia?
At the $453,389 statewide median, a 2% to 3.4% range is roughly $9,068 to $15,415, midpoint near $12,242. On a $350,000 purchase it's about $7,000 to $11,900, excluding agent commissions (a seller-side cost).
Who pays transfer tax in Virginia, the buyer or the seller?
The 0.10% grantor's tax under Va. Code § 58.1-802 is customarily the seller's — $453 on a $453,389 sale. The buyer pays recordation tax separately: 0.25% on the deed and 0.25% on the deed of trust. Both splits are contract defaults, not law, so either side can negotiate.
Does Virginia have a mortgage recording tax?
Yes — a state recordation tax of 0.25% on the debt secured by a deed of trust, paid by the borrower: $907 on a $362,711 loan, 80% of the median price. Most localities add their own share, commonly bringing the combined rate to roughly 0.33%.
Why is my recordation tax higher than 0.25%?
Because your city or county added its own. Va. Code § 58.1-814 permits a local recordation tax of up to one-third of the state amount — about $0.083 per $100 in most places, roughly $0.17 per $100 in Fairfax County. Combined rates commonly run near 0.33%, or 0.42% in higher add-on localities.
What is the Northern Virginia regional grantor's tax?
An extra 0.10% grantor's tax on sales in NVTA localities: Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park. It brings the total there to 0.20%, about $907 on a $453,389 sale, customarily the seller's charge.
Do I need a lawyer to close on a house in Virginia?
Not at the table, in most cases. Virginia requires attorney supervision of the settlement and the deed, but licensed settlement agents registered with the Virginia State Bar conduct the closing. Most buyers use one rather than hiring their own attorney.
Are closing costs part of my down payment?
No — they're separate, and both are due at closing. On a median-priced Virginia home with 20% down, the down payment plus the $12,242 midpoint comes to about $102,920 in cash. Which fees you can push back on and which you can't is the fastest way to trim it.
Does refinancing in Virginia trigger these taxes again?
Recording a new deed of trust means recordation tax on the new loan, so refinancing isn't tax-free here the way it is in no-mortgage-tax states. No sale means no grantor's tax. At current rates of 6.65% on a 30-year fixed and 5.95% on a 15-year, work the recordation cost into your break-even math.
What to do next
Put your target price into Virginia's payment calculator: it builds in the state's property tax and insurance averages for an all-in monthly figure. Then work backward from the cash you have, using 0.33% as a placeholder combined recordation rate until your settlement agent confirms your locality's number.
- Virginia mortgage payment calculator
- Virginia affordability calculator
- Virginia first-time buyer calculator
- How to buy a home in Virginia
- First-time home buyer programs explained
Every figure on this site is sourced and dated; see our methodology page.
The figures above are illustrations drawn from CalculatorByState's sourced dataset — statewide numbers, not county-level quotes, and Virginia's local recordation add-ons vary city by city. Your own costs depend on your address, lender, settlement agent, and contract. For advice on your situation, consult a licensed real estate professional, mortgage lender, or attorney in Virginia.