Virginia

Virginia is an attorney-led closing state in most of the Northern Virginia / DC-suburb market and an attorney-or-title-company state elsewhere. The closing professional (usually a settlement attorney) coordinates the transaction, prepares the deed, examines title, and supervises funding. Real estate agents help with negotiation and marketing; lenders handle the loan; the settlement attorney ties it all together.

The Virginia Realtors Standard Form Residential Contract is the dominant document statewide. Northern Virginia (Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William counties) operates as part of the broader DC-MD-VA tri-state market, with its own price dynamics, federal-employment economics, and cross-jurisdictional buyer pool. Outside NoVA, Virginia markets behave more like other Mid-Atlantic states.

Grantor tax and recordation tax

Virginia's transfer-tax structure is split between buyer and seller, which is unusual:

Some counties and cities (Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax City, others) impose local recordation taxes of $0.0833 per $100, adding roughly 0.083% to the buyer-side burden. The closing-costs estimator uses a simplified Virginia rate; specific deals in NoVA jurisdictions need separate local research.

What buyers should know

The Virginia Realtors Standard Form gives buyers explicit contingency periods. Home inspection contingencies typically run 7–10 days; financing contingencies run 21–30 days. The contract is well-tested through Virginia case law; disputes under the standard form are usually clean.

Title insurance in Virginia is state-regulated by the Bureau of Insurance, premiums are filed and approved, so they don't vary materially among insurers. The lender's title policy is required (buyer customarily pays); the owner's policy is customarily also paid by the buyer in Virginia.

Property tax in Virginia varies dramatically by jurisdiction. Northern Virginia counties (Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun) run roughly 1.0%–1.2% of assessed value; smaller cities and rural counties run lower (0.6%–0.9%). Virginia has a disabled-veteran exemption that fully eliminates property tax for service-connected 100%-disabled veterans, and various local exemptions for elderly and disabled homeowners.

The buyer-broker agreement (post-2024 NAR settlement) is required before showings. Virginia adopted updated forms early.

RPDA, the disclosure-or-waiver structure

Virginia's seller-disclosure regime is distinctive: sellers can either complete a Residential Property Disclosure Act (RPDA) disclosure form covering known defects, OR the buyer can sign a disclaimer acknowledging that the seller is selling "as-is" with respect to material defects (other than statutory environmental hazards like lead-based paint, defective drywall, and certain other items the seller can't disclaim).

Most Virginia sellers in practice use the disclaimer route, which shifts the inspection burden to the buyer. The buyer's home inspection becomes the primary tool for surfacing issues, and the inspection contingency is the buyer's primary protection. This differs from states like California or Maryland, where seller affirmative disclosure is the default. Buyers shopping Virginia properties should plan for thorough inspections and not assume any defect-disclosure cushion.

What sellers should know

Virginia seller closing costs are moderate. On a $600,000 sale: 5–6% commission ($30,000–$36,000), $600 grantor tax, $1,500–$3,000 attorney fees, $1,000–$1,500 title insurance share, remaining items. Total seller closing costs typically run 6.5–8% of sale price.

Capital gains in Virginia are taxed as ordinary income at the state's graduated rates (top bracket 5.75%). Combined with federal long-term cap gains (0/15/20%) and the 3.8% NIIT for higher earners, sellers above the federal § 121 exclusion face combined effective rates of 23–29%.

Nonresident sellers face Virginia's withholding requirement: 5% of the sales price for individual nonresident sellers, withheld at closing unless an exemption is filed. The closing attorney handles the procedure.

Northern Virginia dynamics

NoVA (Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun, Prince William) is its own market within Virginia, integrated with DC and Montgomery County, MD. Federal employment, government-contractor density, and metro-rail proximity drive premium pricing. Cross-state buyer pools mean that buyers comparing a $700K Arlington condo to a $700K Bethesda condo factor in Virginia's lower property-tax rate vs Maryland's higher tax stack, the comparison goes well beyond price.

How closing typically works

Closing happens at the settlement attorney's office or virtually. The buyer signs the note, mortgage, and federal/state disclosures; the seller signs the deed, grantor-tax affidavit, and 1099-S paperwork; the attorney prepares the settlement statement; funds wire from the lender to the attorney's escrow; the deed and mortgage record at the county clerk's office, typically electronically.

Total time from contract signing to recorded deed runs 30–45 days for financed transactions in Virginia. NoVA closings can be slightly faster on average given the volume and process maturity.

For NoVA transactions specifically (particularly cross-state DC/MD/VA scenarios) a Virginia settlement attorney experienced with the tri-state framework is the right professional. The structural framework is here; closing-cost math runs through the closing-costs estimator with the VA state base.