How to Sell a House in Maryland
Selling a house in Maryland follows the same broad arc as anywhere else — decide how you are selling, produce the paperwork, find a buyer, close. What makes Maryland different is a choice the state hands you at the start that most states do not, and a withholding rule that surprises out-of-state sellers at settlement.
Step 1: Pick your route
- List with an agent. Best gross price for a house in good condition. You pay commission, you prepare the house, and you carry it until settlement.
- Sell it yourself. Saves the listing side of the commission. You handle disclosure, contracts, and negotiation, and most buyers still bring an agent.
- Sell to a cash buyer. Lower price, but no repairs, no commission, no financing contingency, and a closing date you choose.
Step 2: Disclosure or disclaimer — Maryland’s fork in the road
Maryland requires most residential sellers to give the buyer a Residential Property Disclosure and Disclaimer Statement, and the form asks you to choose one of two paths.
Disclosure means you complete the form describing the condition of the house — systems, structure, water, foundation, and the rest — based on what you actually know.
Disclaimer means you sell the property as-is and make no representations about its condition at all.
The disclaimer is why “as-is” is a genuinely usable route in Maryland, and it is the right choice for an inherited house you never lived in or a property you simply do not know the history of. But it is not a shield: even when you disclaim, you must still disclose material latent defects you actually know about. Choosing disclaimer to hide a known problem is how sellers end up in litigation after closing.
If the house was built before 1978, federal lead paint disclosure applies on top of this, and Maryland has its own lead registration and inspection regime for rental property.
Step 3: Assemble the rest of the file
- Mortgage payoff figures, including interest through settlement
- HOA or condo documents, which associations charge for and take time to produce
- Ground rent documentation, if the property carries it — common in and around Baltimore and a routine source of settlement delays
- Well and septic records, if you are outside a public system
- Any permits for work done, which the buyer’s lender may ask about
Step 4: Know what comes out at settlement
Maryland charges both a state transfer tax and a county transfer tax, plus recordation tax, and how those are divided between buyer and seller is partly custom and partly negotiated — it varies by county. Your title company can tell you the split where your house actually sits, and that is the only number worth relying on.
Then there is the one that catches people: if you no longer live in Maryland, the state withholds a percentage of your proceeds at settlement. Nonresident withholding is collected at closing and reconciled later when you file a Maryland return. It is not an extra tax, but it is money you do not walk away with on the day, and inherited-property sellers living out of state are the ones most often blindsided by it.
Add agent commission, your loan payoff, liens the title search turns up, and property tax proration.
Step 5: Contract to closing
A financed Maryland sale typically runs 30 to 45 days from ratified contract to settlement, on top of however long the house takes to sell. Inspection and appraisal both live inside that window, and both can reopen a price you already agreed to. If the buyer’s financing fails in week four, you are back at the beginning with a listing that now shows stale days on market.
When as-is for cash is the better trade
List the house if it shows well, you can carry it for a few months, and nothing is forcing your timeline.
Consider a cash sale if the house needs work you cannot fund, if it is empty and costing you money every month, if you inherited it and live somewhere else, or if a foreclosure date or tax sale is already on the calendar. Maryland’s disclaimer option exists precisely because these sales happen constantly.
8 Day Home Sale buys houses across Maryland — including Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, and Baltimore — as well as Washington DC and Virginia. No repairs, no commission, and you pick the closing date. Request an offer or call (301) 242-SELL.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm current Maryland transfer tax rates, withholding, and disclosure obligations with a Maryland attorney or title company.















