In a typical Washington home sale, sellers pay roughly 6% to 10% of the sale price in closing costs and buyers pay about 2% to 5%. Who pays closing costs in Washington State comes down to custom, loan rules, and what the purchase and sale agreement says: sellers customarily cover agent commissions, the real estate excise tax, and the owner’s title insurance policy, while buyers cover most lender-related charges, recording fees, and prepaid items like taxes and insurance. Almost every line is negotiable.
What the Seller Usually Pays
Agent commissions are the single biggest cost on the seller’s side. The combined rate for the listing and buyer’s agents has historically run around 5% to 6% of the sale price, and it has always been negotiable. As of August 2024, sellers are no longer required to offer buyer-agent compensation through the MLS. Many still do, because it widens the buyer pool, but the amount is now a separate negotiation rather than a built-in default.
The seller also pays for the owner’s title insurance policy, which protects the buyer against defects a title search might miss. Washington’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner confirms this is the customary allocation.1Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Title Insurance The reason sits in the deed itself: under RCW 64.04.030, a seller delivering a standard warranty deed is promising the property is free of debts and other claims at the time of sale.2Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 64.04.030 – Warranty Deed Form and Effect That same promise is why the seller pays off existing mortgages, liens, and judgments before the deed transfers.
Escrow fees are split. A neutral escrow or closing agent handles the money and documents in every Washington transaction, and the total fee generally runs $600 to $2,000 depending on price and complexity. The seller’s half is typically $300 to $1,000.
One item sellers often forget: unpaid utilities. Under RCW 60.80, the seller must identify every water, sewer, and storm drainage utility serving the property and give that information to the closing agent, who contacts each utility for a final bill.3Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 60.80 – Lien for Unrecorded Utility Charges Skip that step and those balances can become liens that follow the property to the new owner.
What the Buyer Usually Pays
Most of a buyer’s costs trace back to the mortgage. The lender requires its own title insurance policy, separate from the owner’s policy the seller provides, and this lender’s policy protects the bank’s interest for the life of the loan.1Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Title Insurance A new one has to be purchased on every refinance.
Loan origination fees cover the lender’s work processing the application and generally run 0.5% to 1.5% of the loan amount. The lender also orders an appraisal; in Washington, a single-family appraisal averages around $850, with a range of roughly $500 to $1,000 depending on the property. Credit report fees, flood certification, and smaller administrative items add on from there.
Recording fees go to the county auditor. Both the new deed and the deed of trust (the mortgage document) get recorded, and each carries its own charge. In many Washington counties the first-page fee for a transfer or trust document now starts around $300 per document, with a small per-page surcharge after that. Recording both documents together commonly runs $500 to $700 or more, depending on county and page count.
The buyer pays the other half of the escrow fee, matching the seller’s share. If a home inspection was ordered but not paid upfront, that shows up on the buyer’s settlement statement too.
Buyers who put less than 20% down on a conventional loan pay private mortgage insurance (PMI), typically 0.5% to 1% of the loan amount per year, usually billed monthly. The first month’s premium is collected at closing, and some lenders also require an upfront lump sum.
The line item that most surprises first-time buyers is prepaids. These aren’t fees for services; they’re money the lender wants funded immediately:
- Homeowners insurance — typically the first six to twelve months of premiums paid at or before closing, plus two to three additional months into an escrow reserve.
- Property tax reserves — roughly three months of taxes deposited into escrow so the lender can pay the next bill on your behalf.
- Prepaid interest — a per-day charge covering the gap between the closing date and the period your first mortgage payment will cover.
Prepaids can add several thousand dollars to the buyer’s bottom line and rarely appear on online calculators.
The Real Estate Excise Tax
Washington’s Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) is often the largest single closing cost in the transaction. It applies to every sale of real property in the state. The seller customarily pays it, but the buyer is legally on the hook if the seller doesn’t.4Washington Department of Revenue. Real Estate Excise Tax
The state REET is graduated. The current thresholds remain in effect through 2026:5Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 82.45.060 – Tax on Sale of Property
- 1.10% on the portion of the sale price up to $525,000
- 1.28% on the portion from $525,001 to $1,525,000
- 2.75% on the portion from $1,525,001 to $3,025,000
- 3.00% on anything above $3,025,000
On a $600,000 sale, that works out to $5,775 on the first $525,000 and $960 on the remaining $75,000, for a state REET of $6,735. The thresholds adjust every four years; the next adjustment takes effect January 1, 2027.
Most cities and counties stack a local REET on top, usually 0.25% to 0.50%.6Washington Department of Revenue. REET Rates – January 1, 2026 and After Seattle, Tacoma, and most of King and Snohomish County charge 0.50%. Parts of Columbia, Grant, and Whitman counties charge nothing. San Juan County is an outlier at 2.00%. Check your specific jurisdiction before estimating the total.
The county treasurer collects REET before the auditor will record the deed. If the tax isn’t paid within one month of the sale, penalties run 5% after one month, 10% after two, and 20% after three.7Washington State Legislature. WAC 458-61A-306 In a normal transaction the escrow agent handles payment automatically. In a private sale without an escrow agent, missing the deadline gets expensive fast.
Property Tax Prorations
Washington property taxes are paid in arrears, so at closing the seller has been living in the home and accruing an unbilled tax obligation. The escrow agent calculates the seller’s share of the current tax period and credits it to the buyer, who then pays the full bill when it comes due. On the settlement statements this shows up as a credit to the buyer and a debit to the seller. If the seller already prepaid taxes past the closing date, the direction reverses and the buyer reimburses the seller.
One warning for buyers: delinquent property taxes follow the property, not the previous owner.8Thurston County Washington. Frequently Asked Questions About Property Taxes A competent title search will catch any outstanding balance before closing, but it’s worth confirming.
Negotiating Who Pays What
None of the default allocations are locked in. The purchase and sale agreement can move almost any closing cost from one party to the other. In a slow market, buyers routinely ask sellers to cover part or all of the buyer’s closing costs through a seller concession. In a hot market, a buyer might offer to pay items that normally fall to the seller — the excise tax, for instance — to sharpen their offer.
Seller concessions have hard caps set by the loan program, and this is where deals occasionally collapse. With a conventional loan and less than 10% down, the seller can contribute no more than 3% of the sale price toward the buyer’s costs. FHA allows up to 6%. VA caps concessions at 4%. Exceeding the limit can kill the loan approval, not just violate guidelines.
The August 2024 commission changes also opened new ground to negotiate. Because buyer-agent compensation is no longer bundled into the seller’s side through the MLS by default, some sellers now offer a flat fee rather than a percentage, and some price the home slightly lower and leave agent compensation to the buyer. Norms are still settling by neighborhood and price point.
FIRPTA When the Seller Is a Foreign National
If the seller is a foreign person, the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the sale price and send it to the IRS at closing.9Internal Revenue Service. FIRPTA Withholding On a $700,000 sale, that is $105,000 pulled from the seller’s proceeds before they see any money.
There is one significant exception: if the buyer plans to use the property as a primary residence and the sale price is $300,000 or less, no withholding is required.9Internal Revenue Service. FIRPTA Withholding Above that price, a foreign seller can apply to the IRS for a withholding certificate that reduces the amount to the expected actual tax, but the application has to be filed well before closing. The escrow agent typically processes the withholding, but the legal obligation sits with the buyer, who can be personally liable for the full 15% if it isn’t done.