If someone told you closing costs run two to three percent and left it there, they skipped the useful part. In Washington, closing costs aren't one number. They're a stack of separate lines, some on the seller's side, some on yours, and a few that aren't really costs at all. This guide walks down the settlement statement in roughly the order you'll see it, with who customarily pays each item. Keep one rule in mind throughout: outside the excise tax, almost every split described here is custom, not law, and can be changed in your purchase agreement.

Line one: the excise tax on the seller's side

Washington charges a real estate excise tax, or REET, on the sale. The seller usually pays it, though the Department of Revenue notes the buyer becomes responsible if the seller doesn't, and unpaid tax can become a lien on the property. The state portion is graduated. Through December 31, 2026, it's 1.1% on the first $525,000 of the price, 1.28% from there to $1,525,000, 2.75% up to $3,025,000, and 3% above that. On January 1, 2027, the thresholds adjust for inflation: the 1.1% tier will run to $551,000, the 1.28% tier to $1,551,000, and the 2.75% tier to $3,051,000.

Then the local piece. The Department of Revenue's May 2026 table lists a 0.50% local rate for every location in Kitsap County, for Gig Harbor, Tacoma, Puyallup, and unincorporated Pierce County, and for Shelton and unincorporated Mason County. Put together, a $400,000 sale carries about $6,400 in excise tax. A sale at Kitsap's September 2026 county median of $595,000 (NWMLS) comes to roughly $9,650. At $900,000 it's about $15,075.

Why should a buyer care about a tax on the other column? Because it comes straight out of the seller's proceeds, and it's part of every seller's math when they decide how much room they have on price, repairs, or credits toward your costs.

What your lender charges, and where shopping works

When you finance, your lender has to give you a Loan Estimate within three business days of your application, listing every fee. The usual lines are an origination charge, an appraisal, a credit report, underwriting, and sometimes a fee to lock your rate for an extended period. These are yours as the buyer.

This is the one category where comparison shopping genuinely pays. Request Loan Estimates from two or three lenders on the same day, since rates move daily, and lay them side by side. Origination and lender charges vary meaningfully between lenders; third-party items like the appraisal tend to land in a similar range wherever you go. For context, Freddie Mac's survey had the 30-year fixed at 6.76% for the week of September 10, 2026, so confirm the live number the week you actually lock.

Prepaids and reserves: your money, moved early

This section confuses more buyers than any other because it sits on the same page as the fees and looks identical. It isn't a fee. At closing, your lender sets up an escrow account to pay property taxes and homeowner's insurance on your behalf, and it front-loads that account: typically a full year of insurance up front, a few months of property tax as a cushion, and per-day interest from your closing date to the end of the month.

That money goes to your own bills on a schedule, so you never write a five-figure check to the county in one shot. It still changes how much cash you need to bring, often by thousands, which is why it belongs in your plan early. When someone quotes you a scary closing-cost figure, ask how much of it is prepaids.

Title and escrow: Washington's customary split

Every Washington closing runs through a neutral escrow or closing agent who holds the money and documents until every condition is met, and every financed purchase needs title insurance. The customary split here is that the seller pays for the owner's title policy, which protects you as the new owner against defects in the ownership history; the buyer pays for the lender's title policy, which protects the bank's interest; and buyer and seller split the escrow fee roughly in half. Again, that's custom, and it's negotiable.

Two details catch out-of-state buyers. Your earnest money doesn't go to the seller or to an agent; it goes into escrow and is credited back toward your down payment and costs at closing, so it isn't an extra expense. And recording isn't the nominal stamp fee people picture. The county auditor records the deed and your deed of trust, and Kitsap County's published fee schedule has put the first page of a standard document at a little over $300, so the pair approaches $600. Your escrow officer's estimate will show which side pays each.

PMI: the line that shows up every month

Put down less than 20% on a conventional loan and your lender will require private mortgage insurance. It protects the lender, but you pay it, usually as part of the monthly payment. It isn't a closing cost exactly, but it changes the can-I-afford-this math more than almost any single line on the statement, and the price depends heavily on your credit score and down payment. Get it quoted, not guessed.

The good news is that it ends. Under the federal Homeowners Protection Act, you can request cancellation in writing once your balance reaches 80% of the home's original value, and your servicer must cancel it automatically when the balance is scheduled to reach 78%, as long as you're current. VA loans don't carry monthly mortgage insurance at all; they use a one-time funding fee instead.

Seller credits: the limits, and a smarter use

You can ask the seller to pay part of your costs as a credit, but loan programs cap it. For a conventional loan on a primary residence or second home, Fannie Mae allows seller contributions of up to 3% of the price if your loan-to-value is above 90%, up to 6% between 75% and 90%, and up to 9% at 75% or below; investment properties are capped at 2%. VA limits seller concessions to 4% of the home's reasonable value, but normal closing costs and standard discount points don't count against that 4%. FHA has its own cap, so confirm it with your lender before you write a number into an offer.

Here's the move most buyers never consider: a credit doesn't have to go to fees. It can buy down your interest rate, either permanently or temporarily for the first year or two. Depending on how long you'll keep the loan, the same dollars can be worth more as a lower rate than as a smaller closing bill. Ask your lender to price both before you negotiate.

The small lines that add up

A handful of costs land in the same window even though some aren't technically closing costs: the home inspection, a sewer scope, a pest inspection, and on rural property in Kitsap or Mason, septic and well testing. Add a homeowners' association resale certificate or transfer fee if there's an HOA, and a wire or courier fee to move your funds. None of these moves the needle alone. Together they can reach well into four figures, which is exactly why they feel like nickel-and-diming when nobody listed them in advance.

How do you build your own number?

Start with what scales with price, the title premium, prepaid taxes, and any lender charges set as a percentage, and then add the fixed items like the appraisal, recording, and inspections. Subtract any seller credit you negotiate. If you're paying cash, you skip lender fees and PMI entirely, but your share of title, escrow, recording, and the property-tax proration still applies, so the total drops without reaching zero.

Do this math weeks before closing, not the week of. The budget planner on this site turns a price, a down payment, and a rate into the full cash-to-close and monthly picture, the cost-of-living page puts Washington's ongoing taxes next to what you pay now, and the moving checklist keeps inspections and loan deadlines in sequence. If you want the shorter list of costs buyers most often underestimate, the hidden closing costs article covers that ground.