No separate fee schedule for selling to a cash buyer is documented in the Falls Church research. What the research does document is a ledger with the familiar charges removed: no commission, no seller closing costs in the 1 to 2 percent range, and no repair credits, leaving only the Virginia transfer charges that attach to the deed itself, roughly $3,600 on the seller side of a $1,200,000 sale when they are allocated to the seller (Frontier Capitals, 2026; Code of Virginia, 2026).

A seller asking this question is usually braced for a catch, a processing charge, a transaction fee, an assignment charge or some line invented by the buyer. The documented answer is narrower and more useful than a flat no. There are charges in every Virginia conveyance, they are set by statute rather than by the buyer, they can be computed to the dollar from the price, and beyond those charges and the settlement items this post names, no other fee schedule is documented in the source material.

A short seller-side statement for a direct cash purchase in Falls Church
The short seller side of a cash purchase statement, where the documented charges are transfer items rather than buyer fees.

Key Findings

  • No commission is charged in a direct cash sale, removing the typical 5 to 6 percent, $35,000 to $42,000 on a $700,000 sale (National Association of Realtors, 2025).
  • No seller closing costs in the documented 1 to 2 percent range are deducted from seller proceeds in the direct structure (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
  • The documented seller-side transfer charges on a $1,200,000 sale are about $1,200 of grantor tax plus $2,400 of regional fees, roughly $3,600 total (Code of Virginia, 2026).
  • Beyond the statutory transfer charges and the settlement process described here, no other fee schedule for a Falls Church cash sale is documented in the research.
  • The buyer chooses the settlement agent under section 55.1-1006, so any settlement charge presented to a seller can be questioned against that framework before signing (Code of Virginia, 2026).

What does the documented ledger actually contain?

Work from the ledger the research post builds for a listed sale, then remove what the direct structure removes. Listed on $700,000, a seller faces commission of $35,000 to $42,000 at 5 to 6 percent (National Association of Realtors, 2025), closing costs of another $7,000 to $14,000 at 1 to 2 percent, inspection-driven concessions of $10,000 to $25,000, and carrying costs of $15,000 to $35,000 across three to six months of market time (Frontier Capitals, 2026). That stack is why a $700,000 list price so often nets something in the high $500,000s to low $600,000s.

Against that stack, the cash ledger is short. Commission: none, because no agent is engaged. Seller closing costs as a package: not deducted in the direct structure (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Repair credits: none, because the house sells as is and no inspection contingency creates them. Carrying costs: compressed by a closing in 7 to 21 days rather than 60 to 120 plus days of market time. What survives is the transfer layer that Virginia law places on the deed itself, which the next section prices exactly. The companion analysis of what the closing costs are on a cash sale reaches the same short list from the settlement statement side.

Which charges on the deed are real, and who normally pays them?

Three charges matter, and all three are statutory. The state recordation tax is $0.25 per $100 of price, typically paid by the buyer (Code of Virginia, 2026). The grantor tax is $0.50 per $500, paid by the seller in a conventional allocation (Code of Virginia, 2026). Two Northern Virginia regional fees of $0.10 per $100 each are generally paid by the grantor, the seller, unless the contract agrees otherwise (Code of Virginia, 2026).

On the documented $1,200,000 Falls Church example, those rates produce about $1,200 of grantor tax and $2,400 of regional fees, roughly $3,600 on the seller side, with the buyer recordation tax adding about $3,000 on the buyer side and the combined transfer load staying under 0.6 percent of price (Code of Virginia, 2026). Scale the same rates down to a $700,000 cash price and the seller-side transfer items come to about $2,100 if the contract allocates them to the seller: $700 of grantor tax and $1,400 across the two regional fees (Code of Virginia, 2026). Whether a given cash contract allocates them to the seller or absorbs them on the buyer side is a contract question, and the seller should read that allocation explicitly. A related trap is documented in the guide research: transferring the house into a company of the seller's own first does not avoid the tax, because the charge follows the conveyance to the buyer (Code of Virginia, 2026).

Transfer tax lines computed from statutory rates on a Virginia deed
Statutory transfer charges on a Virginia deed, the only seller-side charges documented for a cash sale.

Are there settlement, title or recording fees for the seller?

The closing itself is real work: a title search, a settlement statement, disbursement of funds and recording of the deed (Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk, 2026). In Virginia that work is performed by a settlement agent within the categories the Real Estate Settlement Agents Act authorizes, a licensed attorney, a title insurance company or its appointed agent, a licensed real estate broker or an authorized financial institution, each registered with the Virginia State Bar (Virginia State Bar, 2025). Most Northern Virginia closings run through title companies in that role.

Two protections follow for a seller worried about invented fees. First, the buyer chooses the settlement agent under section 55.1-1006 (Code of Virginia, 2026), so the agent is a regulated third party rather than the buyer's own bookkeeping, and its statement can be read line by line. Second, the seller disclosure duties that could otherwise be turned into paperwork charges are fixed by law: the contract carries the disclosures required under section 55.1-1007 (Code of Virginia, 2026), and the separate Residential Property Disclosure Statement is a standardized form of yes, no and unknown answers under section 55.1-700 et seq. (Virginia Realtors, 2026). Neither duty creates a buyer fee. If a document presented to a seller lists a charge that matches none of the items in this post, the seller is entitled to ask what statute or contract clause creates it, and to decline to sign until the answer is in writing.

How did the 2024 commission changes affect what sellers are charged?

They changed the listed route, not the cash route, and the change clarifies what a fee is. The settlement rules effective August 17, 2024 ended the practice of offering buyer agent compensation through the MLS and made written buyer agreements mandatory (National Association of Realtors, 2024). Commission in a listed sale is therefore a negotiated contract charge, visible and arguable, rather than a custom. Market surveys after the change put the average buyer agent commission at 2.4 percent for homes sold in the first quarter of 2025 and 2.29 percent between $500,000 and $999,999, with 37.4 percent of sellers negotiating (Redfin, 2025). A direct cash sale has no listing, no MLS offer and no buyer agreement, so no version of that charge arises at all. The fee question in a cash sale should therefore never be answered with commission language; if a buyer presentation borrows commission vocabulary, it is describing a different transaction.

Frontier Capitals belongs in this discussion only as the sourcing firm it is: it places off-market houses with builders, it does not build, and it does not act as a settlement agent or charge a seller fee schedule of its own in the documented model. A seller approached by any cash buyer can apply the same test used throughout this post. Ask for every charge that will appear on the seller side, in writing, before signing. Sellers who want to compare that answer against the full cost of the listed route can start from how much it costs to sell a house and then bring specific questions through the contact page.

A Falls Church home whose owner compared a cash offer against the listed cost ledger
A Falls Church home where the owner weighed documented cash charges against the much longer listed sale ledger.

What questions turn a vague no-fees promise into a checkable answer?

A seller does not have to accept a general assurance that there are no fees. Five specific questions convert that assurance into statements that can be checked against the contract and, later, against the settlement statement. Ask first whether any commission, referral charge or buyer agent compensation of any kind will be deducted from the seller proceeds; in the documented direct model the answer is no, because no agency relationship exists and commission belongs to the listed route at the typical 5 to 6 percent (National Association of Realtors, 2025). Ask second whether the seller closing cost package of 1 to 2 percent will appear anywhere on the seller side; the documented model says it will not (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Ask third who carries the grantor tax and the two regional fees, and get the allocation named in the contract, since the conventional allocation puts roughly $3,600 on the seller side at a $1,200,000 price and the contract can agree otherwise (Code of Virginia, 2026). Ask fourth whether the buyer charges anything for its own process, under any label at all, and require a written no or a written schedule. Ask fifth who the settlement agent will be, since the buyer chooses that agent under section 55.1-1006 (Code of Virginia, 2026) and a named, registered agent means the statement will be produced by a regulated third party rather than by the buyer alone (Virginia State Bar, 2025).

The answers gain force from one habit: get them in writing before signing, attached to the offer rather than spoken across a kitchen table. Verbal assurances cost nothing to make and nothing to break, while a contract clause can be read by the settlement agent and enforced through the closing. Sellers should also notice what these questions deliberately leave out. They do not ask the buyer to waive the seller statutory duties, because those duties are not fees and cannot be waived by enthusiasm: the purchase contract carries the disclosures required under section 55.1-1007 (Code of Virginia, 2026), and the disclosure statement under section 55.1-700 et seq. is a form the seller completes, not a service the buyer sells (Virginia Realtors, 2026). A buyer who offers to handle the disclosure paperwork for a charge has misunderstood the law or hopes the seller has.

One more question belongs on the list for sellers holding an older Falls Church home with a mortgage. Ask how the payoff will be handled and confirm that the payoff figure will come from the lender payoff statement at closing, not estimated by the buyer. The payoff is the seller's own debt being extinguished from the proceeds, neither a fee nor a closing cost in the sense of this post, but confusion between payoff and charges is the most common reason a seller misreads a settlement statement and believes a fee appeared that was never there. The recorded deed that follows, filed through the Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk (Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk, 2026), then closes the question entirely: the charges on the statement are the charges that existed, and in the documented cash model they are the short statutory list this post began with.

What do sellers keep when a Falls Church sale stays off market?

What the seller keeps, in fee terms, is the money the listed ledger would have taken. The transaction stays private, with no showings, no open houses, no lockbox visits and no public marketing period before the deed records. The closing can land in 7 to 21 days when speed matters, or months later with a leaseback, instead of the 60 to 120 plus days listed older homes commonly need. No commission is paid, preserving the 5 to 6 percent that equals $35,000 to $42,000 on a $700,000 sale (National Association of Realtors, 2025). No seller closing cost package is deducted, and commission plus closing costs together commonly run past $40,000 on a $650,000 transaction (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The house sells as is, so the $10,000 to $30,000 of repair credits and post-inspection reductions that older listings often concede never come into existence.

Methodology and limitations

This post relies on the cost ledger and sample behind the Falls Church research: 44 older homes sampled in 22043 and 22046, 18 of them acquired by builders, for an aggregate builder demand rate of 40.9 percent (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Transfer charges are stated from the statutory rates and the worked $1,200,000 example in the guide material (Code of Virginia, 2026). The limits deserve plain statement: the research documents no buyer-imposed fee schedule beyond the charges named here, which is a statement about the documented model, not a guarantee about every buyer in the market. A seller remains responsible for reading the actual contract and settlement statement in a specific deal, and for items personal to the seller, such as mortgage payoff figures, which no general post can compute.

Conclusion

The fee answer for a Falls Church cash sale is short because the documented ledger is short. No commission, no seller closing cost package, no inspection credits, and a statutory transfer layer that totals roughly $3,600 on the seller side of a $1,200,000 sale when allocated to the seller, under 0.6 percent across both sides. No other fee schedule is documented in the research, and any charge beyond those items should be explained in writing by whoever proposes it.

If a buyer has quoted you a price and you want the charges behind it checked against this ledger, call 401-219-4207 or email [email protected]. If a cash offer landed in your inbox today, would you know which of its lines are set by Virginia law and which were invented by the buyer?

Frequently Asked Questions

Keep the written answers with the signed contract, so the settlement statement can be audited against them line by line at closing without relying on anyone's memory of a conversation (Frontier Capitals, 2026).

Is there a transaction or processing fee for selling to a cash buyer?

No such fee is documented in the Falls Church research. The documented seller-side charges are the statutory transfer items: grantor tax and the two regional fees, about $3,600 together on a $1,200,000 sale (Code of Virginia, 2026). A processing charge presented by an individual buyer should be justified in writing or refused.

Do cash sellers pay the buyer recordation tax?

Typically no. The recordation tax of $0.25 per $100 is typically buyer-paid, while the grantor tax and regional fees sit on the seller side in a conventional allocation (Code of Virginia, 2026). The contract can allocate charges differently, which is why the allocation clause deserves a careful read.

What if the settlement statement shows a charge not mentioned here?

Ask the settlement agent to identify its basis. Settlement agents operate under Title 55.1 Chapter 10 and register with the Virginia State Bar (Virginia State Bar, 2025), and the recorded deed and statement are filed through the Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk (Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk, 2026). A charge with no statutory or contractual basis should not be signed over in silence.

Does avoiding commission require paying anything else instead?

No substitute charge is documented. Commission arises from an agency relationship, reshaped but not removed by the 2024 settlement rules for listed sales (National Association of Realtors, 2024). A direct sale simply has no agency relationship, so the 5 to 6 percent documented for listed sales (National Association of Realtors, 2025) never arises.

Are property taxes during the wait a hidden fee in a cash sale?

They are a carrying cost rather than a buyer fee, and the short cash timeline shrinks them, because a closing in 7 to 21 days leaves far fewer tax and insurance days on the seller than a 60 to 120 plus day listing does (Frontier Capitals, 2026).

Sellers in Falls Church also ask How to Tell If a Cash Home Buyer Is Legitimate in Falls Church?, Can a Cash Offer Fall Through Before Closing in Falls Church? and Can a House Be Sold for Cash If It Needs Major Renovations in Falls Church?

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