Buy now or pay more later

The cost of buying a house in the District is going up. No, I'm not talking a bout the cost of housing going up as it continues in DC and other parts of the area. I'm talking g about the price you pay to transfer property in DC, that cost is going up. Whenever you buy and sell a property in the city you pay the city a transfer and recordation tax. Currently the cost is 1.1% of the sales price. So if the house you're buying is $470,000 your cost will be around $4700 for both the buyer and the seller. The buyer pays $4700 and the seller pays $4700. The DC City Council being the brilliant folks they are decided last week to increase that cost. Yeah, it's already expensive to buy a house in the city, so let's just make it a little more expensive. Now it will cost you 1.4%, effective Oct. 1, 2006. So come Oct. that same house will cost you around $6,020 to transfer and record. That's an increase of more than $1300. If you think it's ok to wait to buy or sell, just to see what the market's going to do, that waiting will cost you. Stop waiting. the market's doing what it's doing and waiting to see what happens means you go another year without the benefit of owning your home or without the benefit of selling a house in a market that clearly has not died.