Virginia Mortgage Guide

$380,000 median—about 10% cheaper than the national average—but here's what nobody tells you: Virginia is actually three different housing markets pretending to be one state.

Northern Virginia (Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax) runs $600,000+ and feels more like D.C. suburbs than the rest of the state. You're paying for Metro access and federal job proximity. Richmond sits around $320,000 and gives you actual space without the Beltway madness. Virginia Beach hovers near $350,000, but you'll want flood insurance added to your budget—coastal properties here aren't just a hurricane risk on paper, it's something you factor into your monthly costs.

The 0.82% property tax rate looks great compared to the 1.1% national average, and it is. On a $380,000 home, that's roughly $3,100 annually versus $4,200 elsewhere. But if you're buying in NoVA, you're also dealing with HOA fees that can hit $300-500 monthly in newer developments.

The Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) runs down payment assistance programs worth checking if you're a first-timer—they'll do a second mortgage up to $7,500 that you don't repay as long as you stay in the home for a certain period. Most lenders know the program but won't necessarily bring it up

Virginia Housing runs the state's main programs, and they've got two worth knowing about. The HOMEownership Down Payment & Closing Cost Assistance gives you up to 2.5% of your loan amount—so on a $300K house, that's $7,500. It comes as a second mortgage at 0% interest. The catch is you have to stay in the home for 15 years or you pay it back when you sell, prorated for how long you stayed. If you make it the full 15 years, it's forgiven completely.

The better deal if you qualify is the SPARKS program. This one's for households at 80% or below the area median income—so income limits apply based on your county and household size. SPARKS gives you up to $15,000 for down payment and closing costs, and it's fully forgivable after just 5 years. You can combine it with the regular down payment assistance too, which is where it gets interesting.

Both programs require you to use Virginia Housing's first mortgage and complete a homebuyer education course. The mortgages themselves are competitive—sometimes better than conventional rates, sometimes not. You'll need to shop around.

One thing that surprises people: you don't have to be a literal first-time buyer. If you haven't owned a home in the past three years, you qualify. And veterans get even more flexibility on that rule.

The real limitation is participating lenders. Not every mortgage broker works with Virginia Housing programs, so you need to find one who does before you start house hunting. Their website has a lender search tool—start there and get specific numbers for your situation and county.

Here's the thing nobody tells you until closing day in Virginia: you're paying a grantor's tax of $0.25 per $100 of the sale price at closing. That's on top of whatever your locality adds—and places like Fairfax County tack on another $0.25 per $100, Arlington adds $0.33. So on a $400,000 house in Fairfax, you're looking at around $2,000 in transfer taxes alone. It sneaks up on people because most states either don't have it or split it differently between buyer and seller. Here it's mostly on the seller, but you need to know it exists because it affects negotiations.

Virginia also does non-judicial foreclosures. If you miss payments, there's no court process required—the lender can move fast through a trustee. You get a notice, usually 14-15 days before the sale, and that's pretty much it. No drawn-out process like you'd see in Florida or New York.

The flip side is Virginia has a decent right of rescission under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act for certain predatory lending situations, but honestly, if you're working with a legit lender it won't come up. Just know the foreclosure thing—it moves quick here compared to a lot of states, so don't let payments slide thinking you have months to figure it out.

The tax bill timing in Virginia catches everyone. You'll get two bills a year—one due in early June, one in early December—and if you close mid-year, you need to sort out with the seller who's paying what. Counties don't prorate automatically. I've seen people budget for annual property taxes but forget they might owe a chunk at closing plus another bill three months later.

Northern Virginia (Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun counties) runs about 1.0-1.2% effective rate despite the state average being 0.82%. That's an extra $4,000-$6,000 annually on a $500K house compared to what you'd pay down in Roanoke or Richmond. And those NoVA assessments have been climbing 5-8% yearly, so your tax bill grows faster than you'd think.

The real gotcha: Virginia has personal property tax on cars, which isn't a home buying thing directly but wrecks people's budgets their first year. You're already stretching for the mortgage, then Fairfax County hits you with a $1,800 annual car tax bill you didn't know existed.

One more thing—if you're over 65 or permanently disabled, most Virginia counties offer real property tax relief programs, but you have to apply before May 1st for it to count for that year. Miss that deadline and you're paying full freight until next year.