Maryland, Virginia, and DC Home Purchase Cost Calculator
This tool prices the whole purchase, not just the taxes: a monthly payment, a cash-to-close figure, and every fee on one ledger, including the third-party charges most calculators skip. Monthly mortgage insurance prices from representative published rates for the credit score range you pick, your own MI quote wins the moment you enter it, and any amount without a defensible source says amount pending instead of showing a guess.
The tax lines are county-exact. Generic calculators use a national average for closing taxes. That number is wrong in every Maryland county, wrong in a specific way in Virginia, and blind to DC's first-time buyer discount. On the same $500,000 purchase, buyer-side transfer and recordation taxes run $5,530 in Montgomery County and $7,500 in Baltimore City. This tool computes the exact figures for all 24 Maryland recording jurisdictions, applies Virginia's actual formula, which taxes the sale price and the loan amount, and runs DC's income-tested first-time buyer eligibility.
Homeowner’s insurance starts prefilled with an estimate from published premium data and follows your price and property type; type your real quote over it and your number sticks. Monthly mortgage insurance prices from the credit score range you pick above, using representative published rates; paste your real MI quote here and it wins.
Prefilled numbers are an example scenario, not a quote. Change them to yours; everything recomputes as you type.
Monthly breakdown
Cash to close
Transfer and recordation tax detail
| Line item | Total | Buyer | Seller |
|---|
The loan amount does not change Maryland transfer or recordation tax on a purchase. A purchase-money deed of trust is exempt from recordation tax, so only the deed consideration is taxed.
How these numbers are computed
Maryland state transfer tax is 0.5 percent of the purchase price, customarily split evenly between buyer and seller. For a first-time Maryland homebuyer purchasing a principal residence, the rate drops to 0.25 percent and the seller pays all of it, so the buyer's state transfer tax is zero. This break has no income limit and no price cap. Each county then charges its own transfer tax, from zero in counties such as Frederick, Carroll, and Somerset to 1.5 percent in Baltimore City, and its own recordation tax, levied per $500 of the price or any fraction of it. Montgomery County's recordation tax is tiered: $4.45 per $500 up to $500,000, rising in steps to $11.35 per $500 above $1,000,000, with the first $100,000 exempt on an owner-occupied home. Baltimore City adds a yield tax of 15 percent of the recordation tax and 40 percent of the transfer tax on transactions of $1,000,000 or more.
Virginia charges recordation tax on two instruments at settlement. The deed is taxed at 25 cents per $100 of the sale price, or the property's value if greater. The deed of trust is taxed at 25 cents per $100 of the loan amount. The county or city adds one third of the state amount to each. The combined effect is 0.3333 percent of the price plus 0.3333 percent of the loan. Most online calculators apply Virginia's rate to the price alone and understate the tax on every financed purchase. Virginia's grantor tax and the Northern Virginia regional fee are paid by the seller and are not part of the buyer's cash to close.
Washington, DC charges two taxes at closing: a recordation tax the buyer customarily pays and a transfer tax the seller customarily pays. Both are 1.1 percent of the price below $400,000 and 1.45 percent at $400,000 or above. A first-time DC homebuyer purchasing a principal residence for $777,000 or less pays a reduced recordation rate of 0.725 percent, but only if household income is at or below DC's limit for the household size, which runs from $206,640 for one person to $389,520 for eight or more. Income means the combined federal adjusted gross income of every buyer and every person who will live in the home, and the discount must be claimed when the deed is recorded. The seller's transfer tax is unchanged by the discount. These limits refresh every October 1.
The fee ledger works the same way as the tax math: every amount is a dated, sourced record. Lender charges are Vellum's actual fees. The survey, realtor admin fee, and condo charges are third-party amounts included as estimates so the total reflects the real transaction. Homeowner’s insurance starts as a price-banded estimate derived from published NAIC premium data trended forward, sized deliberately high so a real quote is good news; type your quote over it and your number wins. Escrow deposits use conservative month counts, printed on each line, until the per-county tax calendar table lands. Prepaid interest counts the days from your closing date through the end of that month at the loan's daily rate. Title insurance premiums come from the filed Stewart rate schedules for Maryland, Virginia, and DC, priced on the enhanced owner's policy with the simultaneous-issue lender's rate, and the settlement fee, document preparation, and closing protection letter are the figures Nathan typically quotes, set deliberately on the high side. Every title line is an example number: the written quote from your own title company is the one that governs, and the owner's policy is optional coverage you can switch off to price the purchase without it. Monthly mortgage insurance on a conventional loan with less than 20 percent down comes from the most recent published national MI rate card (National MI, March 2022), priced by credit score band and loan-to-value band at a stated 36 percent debt-to-income assumption, with reduced-coverage rates for HomeReady and Home Possible above 90 percent loan-to-value. Every MI company prices each borrower through its own engine today, so the card is a representative estimate and your written MI quote governs. Below a 620 score or above 97 percent loan-to-value the calculator refuses to extrapolate and asks for a real quote instead.
Where a rule is ambiguous and unverified, this calculator resolves it in the direction of the higher estimate, so the figure at settlement should come in at or below the figure shown here. Where an amount has no defensible source at all, the calculator refuses to guess: the line renders with amount pending, stays out of every subtotal, and the totals say plainly that they are incomplete.
Worked examples
These five scenarios are computed by the same engine that powers the calculator above and published as plain text so the numbers are readable without JavaScript.
$500,000 purchase in Montgomery County, owner-occupied, repeat buyer
| Maryland state transfer tax (0.5%) | $2,500.00 | buyer $1,250.00 |
| Montgomery county transfer tax (1.0%) | $5,000.00 | buyer $2,500.00 |
| Montgomery recordation tax ($4.45/$500, first $100,000 exempt) | $3,560.00 | buyer $1,780.00 |
| Buyer-side total | $5,530.00 |
The same $500,000 purchase in Baltimore City
| Maryland state transfer tax (0.5%) | $2,500.00 | buyer $1,250.00 |
| Baltimore City transfer tax (1.5%) | $7,500.00 | buyer $3,750.00 |
| Baltimore City recordation tax ($5.00/$500) | $5,000.00 | buyer $2,500.00 |
| Buyer-side total | $7,500.00 |
Same price, different county, $1,970 more from the buyer. This is why a national-average calculator cannot price a Maryland purchase.
$350,000 purchase in Frederick County, first-time Maryland buyer
| Maryland state transfer tax (first-time buyer rate 0.25%, paid by seller) | $875.00 | buyer $0.00 |
| Frederick county transfer tax | $0.00 | buyer $0.00 |
| Frederick recordation tax ($7.00/$500) | $4,900.00 | buyer $2,450.00 |
| Buyer-side total | $2,450.00 |
$500,000 Virginia purchase with a $450,000 loan
| State recordation tax, deed (25¢/$100 of price) | $1,250.00 |
| Local recordation tax, deed (one third of state) | $416.67 |
| State recordation tax, deed of trust (25¢/$100 of loan) | $1,125.00 |
| Local recordation tax, deed of trust (one third of state) | $375.00 |
| Buyer-side total | $3,166.67 |
A price-only calculator shows $1,666.67 here and misses $1,500 of tax on the loan side.
$600,000 DC purchase: standard buyer vs qualifying first-time buyer
| DC recordation tax, standard (1.45%) | $8,700.00 | buyer pays |
| DC recordation tax, first-time buyer rate (0.725%) | $4,350.00 | buyer pays |
| DC transfer tax (1.45%) | $8,700.00 | seller pays |
A qualifying first-time DC buyer saves $4,350 at this price. Qualifying means household income at or below DC's limit for the household size ($236,160 for two people) and a price of $777,000 or less.
Maryland transfer and recordation rates, every jurisdiction
Effective October 1, 2025. Recordation is per $500 of consideration or any fraction. Pending final verification against each county's published schedule.
| Jurisdiction | Recordation | County transfer | Owner-occupied exemption | First-time buyer relief | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allegany | $3.50/$500 | 0.5% | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Anne Arundel | $3.50/$500 | 1.0%; 1.5% at $1M+ | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Baltimore City | $5.00/$500 | 1.5% | First $22,000 (transfer, under $250,000) | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Baltimore County | $2.50/$500 | 1.5% | First $22,000 (transfer) | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Calvert | $5.00/$500 | None | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Caroline | $5.25/$500 | 0.5% | First $25,000 (transfer) | First $75,000 transfer-exempt | 2025-10-01 |
| Carroll | $6.50/$500 | None | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Cecil | $4.10/$500 | 0.5% | — | Reduced transfer 0.25% | 2025-10-01 |
| Charles | $7.00/$500 | 0.5% | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Dorchester | $5.00/$500 | 0.75% | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Frederick | $7.00/$500 | None | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Garrett | $3.50/$500 | 1.0% | First $50,000 (transfer) | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Harford | $3.30/$500 | 1.0% | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Howard | $2.50/$500 | 1.25% | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Kent | $3.30/$500 | 0.5% | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Montgomery | $4.45 to $500k; $6.75 to $600k; $10.20 to $750k; $10.78 to $1M; $11.35 above | 1.0% (lower below $70k) | First $100,000 (recordation) | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Prince George's | $2.75/$500 | 1.4% | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Queen Anne's | $4.95/$500 | 0.5% | — | Reduced transfer 0.25% | 2025-10-01 |
| Somerset | $3.30/$500 | None | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| St. Mary's | $4.00/$500 | 1.0% | First $30,000 (transfer) | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Talbot | $6.00/$500 | 1.0% | First $50,000 (transfer) | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Washington | $3.80/$500 | 0.5% | First $50,000 (transfer) | Reduced transfer 0.25% under $115,000 | 2025-10-01 |
| Wicomico | $3.50/$500 | None | — | — | 2025-10-01 |
| Worcester | $3.30/$500 | 0.5% | First $50,000 (transfer) | — | 2025-10-01 |
Baltimore City adds a yield tax on transactions of $1,000,000 or more: 15 percent of the recordation tax and 40 percent of the transfer tax. Maryland state transfer tax of 0.5 percent applies statewide on top of the county figures above.
Definitions
- Recordation tax is a tax charged for recording the deed and, in Virginia, the deed of trust in the county land records.
- Transfer tax is a tax on conveying real property from seller to buyer, charged as a percentage of the price.
- A first-time Maryland homebuyer is an individual who has never owned residential property in Maryland as a principal residence.
- A first-time DC homebuyer is an individual who has never owned a home in DC that received the homestead deduction as their principal residence.
- Prepaids and escrows are amounts collected at closing that are not fees: interest from your closing date to month end, the first year of homeowner’s insurance, and deposits that open your tax and insurance escrow account.
- Amount pending means the line belongs on an honest estimate but no defensible figure exists for it yet. Pending amounts are never guessed and never counted in a total.
The take-home PDF is being built. The real document to compare lenders with is an official Loan Estimate, and I can turn one around quickly.
This is an educational estimate, not an offer of credit and not a Loan Estimate. Rates change daily; the rate used here is the one you entered and may not be available to you. Your actual costs can differ; get an official Loan Estimate before choosing your loan. Costs shown resolve ambiguity toward the higher figure, and lines marked amount pending are excluded from totals rather than guessed. Customary buyer and seller splits shown; your contract controls. Nathan Burch, NMLS 231804 · Vellum Mortgage, Inc., NMLS 1657323 · Equal Housing Lender. Figures verified as of August 10, 2026.