About This Site and Who Runs It
Program and regulatory figures verified September 19, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
A lender's site about a Washington problem that is really an arithmetic problem, and one that usually gets done on the wrong number.
Why the site is shaped this way
Most writing about buying before selling comes from the real estate side and focuses on the offer. What usually decides whether a Washington move-up buyer can act is the financing, and here the financing depends on a figure that is smaller than people assume.
Washington's real estate excise tax takes roughly 1.65% of the sale price off the top where a full local REET applies. A bridge loan is repaid from what survives that, plus the mortgage payoff and closing costs. Plans built on the sale price overstate the available money by a five-figure sum on an ordinary Puget Sound house.
That is not a tax article. It is the number our structures sit on, which makes it ours to raise.
The half that works in your favour
Washington charges no state transaction tax on the financing itself. Excise tax applies to sales, and recording a deed of trust is not a sale. So borrowing against the departing home is free of state tax here in a way it is not in Virginia, Florida or Tennessee.
Cheap entry to the money, expensive exit from the asset. Plan the exit first and the rest follows.
Two things we could not verify, and did not publish
The first is the rent-cap exemption list. HB 1217 exemptions are defined in RCW 59.18.710. We could not retrieve that section directly, and both the Department of Commerce and the Attorney General decline to enumerate the exemptions on their public pages. Since the question that matters, whether a departing residence you have moved out of falls inside the cap, turns entirely on that list, we say so and send you to a Washington attorney rather than repeating a blog.
The second is the qualifying age and county income thresholds for senior and disabled property tax relief. The programme exists under RCW 84.36.379 to 84.36.389 and the Department of Revenue publishes county thresholds for tax years 2027 to 2029 under Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6162. The specific figures circulating in secondary sources could not be confirmed at a primary source on our research date, so they are not here.
What we deliberately do not do
We do not advise on purchase contracts, contingencies or offer terms. We are lenders, not licensed real estate agents or attorneys. We do not calculate excise tax on a specific transaction; your closing agent does. We do not determine relief eligibility; your county assessor does.
Reach us on the contact page, or start with the Washington guide.
Frequently asked questions
Are you a real estate agent?
No. Mike Certo is a mortgage loan originator, NMLS #260555, with Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #173855. We finance the purchase; your agent represents you in it and handles the contract. Different licences, different jobs.
Can you tell me exactly what excise tax I will pay?
We can show you the bracket schedule and run your figures through it. The calculation on an actual transaction belongs to your closing agent, who applies the statute and the local rate for the specific jurisdiction.
Do you lend throughout Washington?
Yes, Washington statewide. The excise tax schedule is the same everywhere, but local REET, conforming limits and marketing times differ sharply between Puget Sound and eastern Washington, so your county matters.
Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, or real estate advice. Excise tax treatment, rent-cap exemptions, and county relief thresholds change and depend on your facts; your closing agent, your county assessor, your CPA or a Washington attorney, and your real estate agent each handle their own part. Loans are subject to borrower and property qualification.