Redmond sellers typically pay closing costs equal to 1 to 2 percent of the sale price, separate from and in addition to any commission. The research ledger for ZIP code 98052 names the contents of that block plainly: title charges, transfer and excise taxes, and prorations (Frontier Capitals, 2026). On a 900,000 dollar sale, 1 to 2 percent is 9,000 to 18,000 dollars, and stacked with the commission of 5 to 6 percent it produces the combined figure the ledger documents: commissions plus closing costs commonly take 54,000 to 72,000 dollars on a 900,000 dollar transaction (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The largest single item inside the seller closing block in Washington is usually the real estate excise tax, which the state charges to the seller at graduated rates that begin at 1.1 percent on residential sales (Washington Department of Revenue, 2025).
Closing costs surprise sellers because they are itemized in a document most people read for the first time at the signing table. Each line is small next to the commission, but the lines are numerous, and a few of them, the excise tax above all, are not small at all. This report unpacks the block item by item, using the documented Redmond ranges, so a seller in 98052 can recognize every charge on the settlement statement before the day arrives.
Key Findings
- Seller closing costs in the Redmond ledger commonly run 1 to 2 percent of the sale price, distinct from commission (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- The Washington real estate excise tax is paid by the seller, graduated from 1.1 percent on residential sales, and is usually the biggest item inside the closing block (Washington Department of Revenue, 2025).
- The state revenue department publishes the excise tax rates and calculation rules that determine the exact amount on a given price (Washington State Department of Revenue, 2026).
- Commissions plus closing costs together commonly total 54,000 to 72,000 dollars on a 900,000 dollar sale, which is the combined burden sellers should plan around (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- Title, escrow, recording, and proration items fill out the block, and closing cost research for sellers itemizes the same categories nationally (Freddie Mac via Bankrate, 2026).
- Average closing costs vary meaningfully by state because transfer and excise taxes are set by each jurisdiction (Bankrate, 2025).
What is inside the 1 to 2 percent seller closing block?
The excise tax comes first. Washington imposes its real estate excise tax on the seller, and the residential schedule is graduated, starting at 1.1 percent and stepping up through price tiers (Washington Department of Revenue, 2025). On a 900,000 dollar Redmond sale, the tax alone accounts for a five figure charge, and it is calculated under the rate and calculation rules the state revenue department publishes (Washington State Department of Revenue, 2026). Unlike most lines in the block, the excise tax is not a fee for a service. It is the state share of the transfer, and no route to selling avoids it, because it attaches to the recording of the sale itself.
Title and escrow charges come next. The seller side of a Washington transaction customarily carries a share of the title policy cost and escrow fee, the price of having a neutral party hold funds, verify the title record, and disburse at recording. National guidance on closing costs for sellers lists these same categories as standard seller items (Freddie Mac via Bankrate, 2026). The amounts are modest compared with the excise tax, typically measured in the low thousands on a Redmond priced home, but they are unavoidable in any arms length closing.
Prorations and recording complete the block. Property taxes and any prepaid items are split between buyer and seller as of the closing date, which can produce either a charge or a credit depending on where in the tax cycle the sale lands. The county assessment records behind those tax figures are the same parcel records that carry assessed values for Redmond properties (King County Assessor, 2026). Recording fees then pay for the transfer to enter the county record as a property transfer and ownership record (King County Recorder's Office, 2026). Sellers who want the full ledger, including commission and the contingent lines, should read how much it costs to sell a house in Redmond next.
How do Redmond closing costs compare with other places?
Jurisdiction is the main variable. A state by state comparison of average closing costs shows wide dispersion, driven mostly by whether the state levies a transfer or excise tax and how heavy it is (Bankrate, 2025). Washington sits on the heavier side for sellers precisely because the excise tax is seller paid and graduated upward with price. A Redmond seller moving from a state with no transfer tax often experiences the excise line as a shock, while a seller arriving from another high transfer tax state finds the block familiar.
Price level is the second variable. Because most closing items scale with price, the 1 to 2 percent block on a 900,000 dollar sale, 9,000 to 18,000 dollars, becomes 15,000 to 30,000 dollars on a 1,500,000 dollar sale by simple proportion. Redmond prices make Washington closing costs larger in dollars than the same percentages would produce in a cheaper market, even though the percentage range itself is unremarkable. The percentage is the right planning tool; the dollars follow from the price the home actually commands.
It is worth separating closing costs from commission in the comparison, because sellers routinely merge them. The commission research for this market documents 5 to 6 percent for the agency side (National Association of Realtors, 2025), while industry reporting notes commissions have stayed near their customary levels under current rules (Redfin, 2025). Closing costs are the smaller, more mechanical block. Confusing the two leads sellers to overestimate what negotiation can achieve: an agent may shade a commission, but the excise tax does not negotiate. A worked example of keeping money after both blocks are paid appears in the net proceeds walkthrough at how Redmond homeowners can calculate their net proceeds from a sale.
Can a seller reduce the closing cost block?
Some lines bend and some do not. The excise tax is fixed by the state schedule for the price achieved (Washington State Department of Revenue, 2026), and recording fees are set charges. Title and escrow pricing, by contrast, is a market: sellers or their representatives can compare providers, and in a direct sale the parties can structure who carries which customary item as part of the negotiation. Prorations are arithmetic, not negotiation; they fall where the calendar puts them.
Timing is the quiet lever. Closing just after a property tax installment is paid by the seller produces a proration credit back from the buyer for the prepaid period, while closing just before an installment is due produces the reverse. Neither changes the tax owed across the year, but each changes the settlement statement a seller signs, and sellers sensitive to the closing day cash picture can ask their escrow officer to model both. The county records of assessed value that feed the tax calculation are public, so the proration estimate can be checked rather than assumed (King County Assessor, 2026).
Route choice is the largest lever of all, and it works on the combined burden rather than on this block alone. A direct off market sale typically closes in 7 to 21 days with no listing commission, and while the excise tax and recording still apply, the seller closing block in a direct structure is often carried in reduced form as part of the deal terms (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Sellers weighing that structure against a listing should compare total deductions, which is the exercise the methodology page describes for this research series. Inspection related timing also matters in listed sales, since inspection contingencies operate under state licensing standards and can reopen price talks late in the closing window (Washington State Department of Licensing, 2026), adding cost risk that a settlement statement never itemizes.
A word about who collects what, since sellers often picture the closing block as a single payment. It is not. The excise tax flows to the state and county through the recording process. The title premium flows to the title insurer. The escrow fee flows to the escrow company. Recording charges flow to the county. Prorations flow, in effect, between the buyer and seller themselves. Understanding the destinations matters for one practical reason: each recipient prices independently, so a seller comparing escrow quotes is only shopping one slice of the block, and the tax slice, usually the largest, is identical in every quote. A seller who grasps that structure stops hunting for a bargain in the wrong line and focuses negotiation energy where movement is actually possible.
Sellers also ask whether the buyer can be made to pay these costs. In a negotiated transaction, almost any line can be shifted by agreement, and in a strong seller market buyers sometimes absorb seller customary items to make an offer competitive. The percentages in this report describe the typical Redmond outcome, not a legal assignment, with the single exception of the excise tax default, which the state places on the seller unless the parties agree otherwise in writing. Even where a buyer absorbs an item, the shift is usually priced into the offer itself, so the seller pays in the form of a lower effective price. The block is best understood as a cost of the transaction that the parties divide, with custom and the state schedule setting the starting division.
What do sellers keep when a Redmond sale stays off market?
Privacy is the first kept item. A sale handled off market has zero showings and zero open houses, so the seller closing costs are negotiated and paid without the neighborhood ever seeing a sign or a listing. On an Education Hill street, that discretion keeps a family move a family matter from first conversation to final recording.
Timing control is the second. A direct cash sale closes in 7 to 21 days, and the seller can instead choose a date months out with a leaseback, matching the closing to the next home rather than to a listing calendar. Against that stands the 60 to 120 plus days a listed older home in 98052 takes from list to close, months during which closing costs are only the last of many expenses still to come.
The commission is the third and largest kept item. A listed sale in this market pays 5 to 6 percent in commission, 45,000 to 54,000 dollars on a 900,000 dollar sale. An off market sale with no listing agent involved keeps that entire line, which dwarfs the 1 to 2 percent closing block this report is about and reframes which costs a seller should really negotiate hardest.
The fourth kept item is the bulk of the seller closing block itself. In a direct structure those 1 to 2 percent charges are commonly reduced or absorbed as part of the terms, and since commissions plus closing costs together commonly run 54,000 to 72,000 dollars on a 900,000 dollar sale, keeping most of that combined figure is the financial heart of the direct route.
The fifth is the repair credit cycle. An as is sale carries no 10,000 to 30,000 dollar repair credits and no post inspection price reductions, so the settlement statement at closing contains no late surprises of the kind listed sellers meet after the inspection report lands. What was agreed is what records.
The necessary disclosure: Frontier Capitals sources off-market deals to builders and functions as a wholesaler in the technical sense, never as the builder, and it does not claim to purchase with its own construction operation. Sellers should verify any direct buyer through proof of funds dated within 30 days, recorded deeds in the buyer entity name, earnest money of typically 1 percent or more, and the absence of any assignment clause.
Methodology and limitations
The closing cost ranges here are the documented figures from the research compiled for this submarket, expressed on a 900,000 dollar example, and they describe typical seller experience rather than quoting any individual escrow. Actual statements vary with the title and escrow providers chosen, the closing date within the tax cycle, and the price tier the sale reaches under the graduated excise schedule. The underlying builder research sample covers 36 older homes in 98052, 13 acquired by builders, and no title search or escrow audit was performed for this report. Sellers should treat the 1 to 2 percent range as a planning band and confirm each line with their own closing disclosure before signing.
Conclusion
Redmond sellers typically pay 1 to 2 percent of the price in closing costs, a block built from the seller paid Washington excise tax graduated from 1.1 percent, title and escrow charges, prorations, and recording, and that block rides on top of any commission to form the full deduction picture. Knowing the contents in advance turns the settlement statement from a surprise into a checklist. For a line by line estimate on a specific 98052 sale, call 401-219-4207 or email [email protected]. When your closing statement arrives, will you be able to name every line on it before you sign?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the excise tax really paid by the seller in Washington?
Yes. The state real estate excise tax is seller paid, and on residential sales the graduated schedule begins at 1.1 percent (Washington Department of Revenue, 2025). The revenue department publishes the rates and the calculation rules, including how the tiers apply as price rises (Washington State Department of Revenue, 2026). Buyers sometimes agree to cover it as a negotiated term, but the statutory default places it on the seller side of the statement.
What is the difference between closing costs and commission?
Commission pays the brokerages for the sale itself and runs 5 to 6 percent in this market (National Association of Realtors, 2025). Closing costs pay for the transaction mechanics: excise tax, title, escrow, recording, and prorations, at 1 to 2 percent (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Together the two blocks commonly total 54,000 to 72,000 dollars on a 900,000 dollar sale, but they are negotiated and reduced by entirely different means.
Do closing costs differ much between Washington and other states?
They do, largely because transfer taxes differ. State level comparisons of average closing costs show the spread clearly (Bankrate, 2025). Washington seller costs sit toward the heavier end because the excise tax is both seller paid and graduated. National seller guidance itemizes the same core categories everywhere, title, escrow, tax, and recording, but the tax line is what moves the total (Freddie Mac via Bankrate, 2026).
Can prorations ever work in the seller favor?
Yes. Prorations split prepaid and unpaid items at the closing date, so a seller who has prepaid property taxes beyond the closing date receives a credit from the buyer for the prepaid span. The underlying tax amounts trace to county assessed values for the parcel (King County Assessor, 2026). The effect is timing rather than savings across the year, but on the settlement statement it is real money in the seller column.
Are closing costs lower in a direct off market sale?
The excise tax and recording charges still apply, because they attach to the transfer itself, which ends as a recorded ownership record (King County Recorder's Office, 2026). What changes in a direct structure is that customary seller items are often reduced or absorbed in the negotiated terms, and the far larger commission line disappears entirely (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The correct comparison is total deductions under each route, not this block in isolation.
Sources
- Washington Department of Revenue, 2025. Real estate excise tax: graduated rates from 1.1% on residential sales, seller-paid. Government data.
- Washington State Department of Revenue, 2026. Real estate excise tax rates and calculation rules. Official record.
- Freddie Mac via Bankrate, 2026. Closing costs for sellers. Industry report.
- Bankrate, 2025. Average closing costs by state. Market data.
- National Association of Realtors, 2025. 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Industry report.
- Frontier Capitals, 2026. 189 neighborhood builder acquisition sample: 36 homes sampled in 98052, 13 acquired by builders, average older home price 34.7 percent of new build. Market data.
- King County Recorder's Office, 2026. Property transfer and ownership records. Official record.
- King County Assessor, 2026. Parcel records, permit histories, and assessed values for Redmond. Official record.
- Washington State Department of Licensing, 2026. Home inspector licensing standards and inspection contingency practices. Official record.
- Redfin, 2025. Real Estate Agent Commissions Haven't Changed Much Under New Rules. Market data.