Selling a luxury home in Georgetown, DC

Seller net sheet calculator

Estimate what you keep from a sale. Replace the defaults with your own figures.

DC deed transfer tax is the seller's by law: 1.45% of the entire price from $400,000 (DC Code § 47-903). Recordation tax follows the contract. Brokerage compensation is negotiable and set in your listing agreement. Property tax prorations and settlement fees are not included. Nothing you enter is saved or sent.

What sells a Georgetown house

In Georgetown the paperwork sells the house. Almost every exterior change here, from a replacement window to a rear deck, needs U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approval on the Old Georgetown Board's advice, and a buyer who finds unapproved work inherits it: the path for work done without approval is a stop-work order, a permit filing and a referral back to the Board. So the most useful thing you can hand a buyer's agent is the house's approval history, next to the disclosure and lead forms DC and federal law require.

The market gives you a good starting point. Zillow's typical Georgetown value reached a record $1,515,129 in August 2026, up 3.57% in a year while DC's fell 1.05%, as our Georgetown market report tracks. What separates two similar row houses at that level is often whether one of them comes with a clean file. The steps below run in deadline order: before you list, before the buyer signs, and at closing.

Before you list: assemble the house's record

Pull the Old Georgetown approval history

The Commission of Fine Arts keeps a public project search where anyone can look up past Old Georgetown cases. Search your address and print every case: windows, doors, additions, fences, rooftop equipment, paving. Then walk the house with the printouts and match each visible change to an approval. A buyer's agent will do the same search; it's better that you find the gap first.

Check that each approval covers what was built

An approval isn't open-ended. Permit approvals expire after four years if construction hasn't substantially started, and concept approvals expire after two. If a previous owner got a concept approval and built something different, or built after the permit lapsed, the file won't cover the work. Fixing that means a new filing with the DC Department of Buildings and a trip back through the Board's monthly calendar, so start months ahead. Our guide to Old Georgetown Board review sets out the calendar.

Match windows and additions to the Board's policies

The Board's September 2022 window policy expects wood, single-glazed, true-divided-light windows on elevations that face or can be seen from public space, and restoration of windows installed before 1950 where possible. "Sandwich" muntins are never appropriate. A house whose street windows already meet that standard is one the buyer won't have to fix. The same goes for additions that stay within the neighbors' rear line; our row house guide covers both policies by house age.

Decide how public the listing will be

Under NAR's Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy, in force at MLSs since September 30, 2025, you can choose an office exclusive (filed with the MLS but not shared) or delayed marketing (visible to MLS agents but held off public sites for a period the local MLS sets). Either requires your signed consent, and neither changes the rule that a listing must be filed within one business day of public marketing. Our pick: list with full exposure unless you have a specific reason for privacy, because fewer buyers see the house during any delay. Ask your listing agent how long Bright MLS's delay runs.

Give notice if the house is rented

Most of DC's tenant purchase rules don't apply to a single-family house, but you must give a tenant written notice within 3 calendar days of receiving or soliciting a written offer. A narrow group of tenants who are elderly or have a disability, under a lease signed by March 31, 2018, keep full rights. Our TOPA explainer covers both cases.

Before the buyer signs: DC disclosure and lead rules

Deliver the DC disclosure statement first

DC Code § 42-1302 requires a signed disclosure statement on the Mayor-approved form before or when the buyer signs the purchase agreement. Deliver it late and the buyer can end the contract by written notice within 5 calendar days of receiving it. That's a free exit you've handed a buyer in a market that can move, so get the form signed and in the listing packet before showings start.

What the DC form asks about

The form covers defects you know about in the water and sewer systems (including lead test results, lead plumbing and lead service line replacement), insulation, the structure from roof to basement, plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning, rodent or wood-boring insect infestation, appliances, alarm systems, garage door openers and fixtures. In an old house, the answers on water lines and the basement matter most to buyers, so gather any service line or waterproofing records now.

Lead paint in a pre-1978 house

The district's buildings date from about 1765 to 1940, so the federal lead rules apply to nearly every Georgetown sale. You must give the buyer the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, disclose known lead paint and hazards, hand over any reports, put a Lead Warning Statement in the contract and allow a 10-day inspection period unless the buyer changes or waives it in writing. Keep the signed forms for three years.

At closing: what selling costs in DC

Deed transfer tax: 1.45%, on the seller by statute

DC Code § 47-903 imposes the deed transfer tax on the seller, at 1.45% of the full price on any residential sale of $400,000 or more. The buyer becomes liable only if you don't pay. Don't assume a buyer will split it: the law starts with you.

Recordation tax: whoever the contract names

Recordation tax is another 1.45%. Both parties are jointly liable under DC Code § 42-1103, and the sales contract decides who pays. Together the two taxes come to 2.9% of the price. Our page on DC deed transfer and recordation tax has the rates, exemptions and history.

Seller net sheet at $1.5M, $3M and $6M

Here's the tax side of a seller's net sheet. Fill in your own price, then add your mortgage payoff, your agreed brokerage fee and any buyer credits.

The DC closing cost calculator runs the same math for any price. Since August 2024, offers of buyer-agent compensation can't appear on the MLS, so settle in writing whether you'll offer any and how much before you list.

When to list, and whether to sell by owner

Timing: Georgetown sale counts swing month to month

Georgetown trades so few homes that any one month is noisy. The Georgetowner reported 32 closed sales in July 2026, 14 in August and 6 in September. Closings trail contracts by weeks, so a summer surge in closings reflects spring and early-summer deals. Across the Washington metro, homes took 35 days to go pending in Zillow's latest figures, up from 32 a year earlier, and 28% of listings had a price cut. Price your house off several months of comparable sales rather than one month's average.

Selling by owner

The law treats an owner-seller like any other. You still owe the DC disclosure statement before the buyer signs, the lead pamphlet and warning statement, the tenant notice if one applies and the transfer tax at closing. You'd also do the Commission of Fine Arts research yourself. If you go that way, use the checklist below and have a DC real estate attorney review the contract.

Mistakes that cost Georgetown sellers

Handing over the disclosure after the contract

It gives the buyer five days to walk away for any reason. Deliver it first.

Assuming the buyer pays the transfer tax

The statute puts it on you. If the contract shifts any of it, that's a negotiated concession, so price it as one.

Listing with unapproved exterior work

A buyer who finds a window or deck with no approval will either ask for a credit or walk. Fixing it after the contract is signed puts your closing date at the mercy of the Board's monthly meetings, which don't happen in January or August.

Reading one month's sales as the price

Georgetown's monthly averages ran from about $3.0 million in August 2026 to about $1.55 million in September, with the same houses on the same streets. Use a quarter or more of sales of your house type.

Before you list, run this checklist: CFA case printouts matched to the house, the signed DC disclosure statement, the EPA lead pamphlet and warning statement, tenant notice if the house is rented, and a net sheet with both taxes. I can pull your house's approval history and recent sales on your block. Tax and contract rules change; confirm your own situation with a DC real estate attorney or CPA before you sign.

Common questions

Sources

• U.S. Commission of Fine Arts: Old Georgetown (project search)
• U.S. Commission of Fine Arts: Old Georgetown FAQs
• U.S. Commission of Fine Arts: Window Policy and Guidelines
• DC Code § 42-1302 (seller disclosure)
• DC Code § 42-1305 (disclosure contents)
• EPA: Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards
• DC Code § 42-3404.09 (TOPA single-family)
• DC Code § 47-903 (deed transfer tax)
• DC Code § 42-1103 (recordation tax)
• DC Office of Tax and Revenue: recordation and transfer tax FAQ
• NAR: Multiple Listing Options for Sellers
• NAR: Settlement FAQs
• DC Historic Preservation Office: Georgetown Historic District brochure (PDF)
• Zillow Research: Zillow Home Value Index and market metrics (August 2026)
• The Georgetowner: July 2026 sales
• The Georgetowner: August 2026 sales
• The Georgetowner: September 2026 sales