Bainbridge Island
A 1% listing fee on Bainbridge Island.
A percentage is a percentage anywhere. What changes on Bainbridge is the number it is a percentage of. Above the first excise band, the rate the state charges on the part of the price above that line changes too.
The rates and rules cited on this page were read from the Washington Department of Revenue and the Revised Code of Washington in August 2026. Both change; check anything here against the source before you rely on it. Nothing on this page is legal or tax advice.
Why does the fee arithmetic move most here?
Because it is arithmetic on the price, and Bainbridge records the highest sale prices in Kitsap County. The percentage does not change; the dollars behind it do.
We are not going to print an island median on this page. A figure like that goes out of date on the site without anyone touching it, and a stale number is worse than none. What the county actually recorded, by community and by year, is at the sold record, read live off the Assessor's and Treasurer's own files. Look up Bainbridge there and use the real number.
What does a 1% listing fee come to at island prices?
Round sale prices in the band Bainbridge sales tend to fall across. The right-hand columns are arithmetic on the price, not a claim about any other firm.
| Sale price | Listing fee at 1% | At 3% | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $900,000 | $9,000 | $27,000 | $18,000 |
| $1,200,000 | $12,000 | $36,000 | $24,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $15,000 | $45,000 | $30,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $20,000 | $60,000 | $40,000 |
About the comparison rate. The second column is a worked example at 3%, not a statement about what any other firm charges. Commission rates are negotiable between a firm and its client and are not set by law or by any trade association; every firm sets its own, and so does Lorraine.
Pick the row nearest the number you have in mind and scale from it; one percent of any price is that price with two digits moved.
Why is the excise tax different on an expensive house?
Because Washington's state excise tax is graduated. Each rate applies only to the slice of the price inside its band, so a house above $525,000 pays the first rate on the part below that line and a higher rate on the part above it.
Washington's graduated state excise tax on a sale of residential real estate. Each rate applies only to the part of the price inside its band. In effect in this form since January 2023; read from the Department of Revenue in August 2026.
| Part of the sale price | State rate |
|---|---|
| The first $525,000 | 1.1% |
| The part from $525,000 to $1,525,000 | 1.28% |
| The part from $1,525,000 to $3,025,000 | 2.75% |
| The part above $3,025,000 | 3% |
On a $1,200,000 sale, that works out band by band as:
The state excise tax on a $1,200,000 sale, band by band.
| Band | State tax |
|---|---|
| $525,000 at 1.1% | $5,775 |
| $675,000 at 1.28% | $8,640 |
| State excise tax | $14,415 |
On top of the state's tax, the city or the county levies its own excise tax, and the rate depends on where the house sits. We do not publish a figure for it here, because it differs by address and we would rather send you to the office that keeps it: the Kitsap County Treasurer collects the excise tax on every sale in this county and can tell you the current local rate for an address before you list.
The tax is the seller's obligation under RCW 82.45.080, and escrow pays it out of the proceeds at closing. It is not negotiable and it does not change with what you pay your broker, which is precisely why it is worth knowing the figure before you set a price rather than after.
What does selling on the island add to the schedule?
Sailings. Every visit to the house that comes from off the island is scheduled around a ferry: a showing, the inspector, an appraiser, a contractor giving a bid. That is a logistics fact about listing here rather than a fact about the market.
What it means in practice is that the calendar is the thing to get right. Grouping showings, giving trades a full window rather than an hour, and holding the inspection period a little longer than you would inland all cost nothing and prevent the sort of delay that turns into a renegotiation. It also means a broker who is already on this side of the water can be at the house on short notice, which is worth more here than it is anywhere else in the county.
Is the 1% the same on Bainbridge?
Yes. It is 1% of the sale price on Bainbridge exactly as it is in Bremerton or Kingston: Lorraine's own listing fee, for homes in Kitsap County, with the buyer's agent paid separately. A rate does not go up because a house did.
The rest of the costs of an island sale are the same list as anywhere else in the state, and they are set out one at a time in what it costs to sell a house in Washington.