Closing costs & net proceeds in District of Columbia.
Enter your home's price and see the agent commission, seller closing costs, transfer tax, and your estimated take-home — every rate drawn from the source cited on this page.
- Median sale price: $740,000
- Typical agent commission: 4.5%
- Seller closing costs: 1%
- Est. seller transfer tax: 1.45%
What will you net?
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Prefilled with the District of Columbia median sale price ($740,000). Change it to your home's price.
Every rate, with its source.
The calculator applies these District of Columbia rates to the price you enter. Each figure comes from the source cited beneath it.
Reading the District of Columbia rate sheet.
Transfer tax is where states differ most. District of Columbia's estimated seller share is 1.45% — about $10,730 handed over when the deed records on a median-priced sale (DC deed transfer tax, seller-paid, 1.45% for sales of $400K+ (buyer pays separate recordation tax) (HomeLight, Jan 2025)). Recordation tax of 1.1% plus transfer tax of 1.1% for residential properties. Split between buyer and seller by convention.
Start with the price: the median District of Columbia sale ran $740,000 (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026), and the typical listing needed 47 days to go under contract (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026). Call it 7 weeks of mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, and utilities that keep accruing while the sign sits in the yard — carrying costs no line item on this page captures.
For scale: that $740,000 median sits above the midpoint of the 50 state medians in the same Redfin tracker ($413,000), and the 47-day pace is slower than the cross-state median of 42 days — worth knowing before you budget for the months between listing and closing. The wait runs on property taxes too: District of Columbia's 0.56% average effective rate ranks 45th of 50 — among the lowest in the country.
The remaining 1% — about $7,400 at the median — covers the seller's closing costs: title work, settlement, recording, and prorations (Redfin national est., May 2026 (low end of 1-3% range excl. commission, transfer tax itemized separately)). District of Columbia is an attorney-close state: legal professionals are required at the closing itself, so their fees are part of the bill rather than an optional extra.
At 4.5%, the average agent commission in District of Columbia comes in under the 5.68% average across the 50 state figures in the same Clever survey — about $8,732 less on a $740,000 sale than at the cross-state average rate. That rate alone is about $33,300 at the median, typically split between the listing agent and the buyer's agent (Clever, Feb 2026 survey (DC avg)).
Sellers ask; the data answers.
What is the seller transfer tax in District of Columbia?
District of Columbia's estimated seller transfer tax is 1.45% of the sale price — about $10,730 on the $740,000 median-priced sale (source: DC deed transfer tax, seller-paid, 1.45% for sales of $400K+ (buyer pays separate recordation tax) (HomeLight, Jan 2025)). Recordation tax of 1.1% plus transfer tax of 1.1% for residential properties. Split between buyer and seller by convention.
How much does it cost to sell a house in District of Columbia?
On District of Columbia's $740,000 median sale, agent commission at 4.5% runs about $33,300 and seller closing costs at 1% add roughly $7,400, plus about $10,730 in seller transfer tax. That totals about $51,430 — roughly 6.95% of the price — before mortgage payoff, repairs, or concessions. Sources: Clever, Feb 2026 survey (DC avg); Redfin national est., May 2026 (low end of 1-3% range excl. commission, transfer tax itemized separately).
What would a seller net on a median-priced District of Columbia home?
Selling at the $740,000 median (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026) with all of the sourced rates on this page applied leaves an estimated $688,570 — before the mortgage payoff and any repairs or concessions, which vary house by house. District of Columbia listings went under contract in a median of 47 days (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026), and every extra week on the market adds another round of carrying costs to that math.
Selling at $740,000: the full ledger.
Each line below is the $740,000 median multiplied by the sourced rate beside it — the same math the calculator above runs on any price you enter.
| Line | Rate | At the median |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price (median) | — | $740,000 |
| Agent commission | 4.5% | −$33,300 |
| Seller closing costs | 1% | −$7,400 |
| Transfer tax (seller) | 1.45% | −$10,730 |
| Total selling costs | ≈6.95% | −$51,430 |
| Estimated net proceeds | $688,570 |
Net proceeds are before mortgage payoff, repairs, and any buyer concessions — those depend on the house. Sources: Redfin state market tracker, May 2026; Clever, Feb 2026 survey (DC avg); Redfin national est., May 2026 (low end of 1-3% range excl. commission, transfer tax itemized separately); DC deed transfer tax, seller-paid, 1.45% for sales of $400K+ (buyer pays separate recordation tax) (HomeLight, Jan 2025).
What the math doesn't show.
The numbers above describe the traditional route in District of Columbia: agent commission, seller closing costs, and transfer tax come off the price before your mortgage payoff — roughly 6.95% of the price in all. On top of that sit repairs, concessions, and the weeks of waiting before a financed buyer closes. Every figure is an estimate from the sourced rates; your real costs vary by county, property, agent, and buyer.
Where a cash sale differs: some owners sell as-is to an independent cash buyer to skip the agent commission and repairs and close on their own timeline. The headline price is usually lower, but so are the costs and the wait — so the net can land closer than it looks once you subtract everything above.
Your cash option: Request offers on a District of Columbia house sold as-is — no repairs, no commissions, no fees to you. Comparing is free, and you decide what happens next.
See what the District of Columbia numbers mean for your house.
Compare the traditional math above with a fast as-is sale — free tools, sourced data, and a timeline you control.
Selling fast in District of Columbia →