The Howard Team at Fairway Home Mortgage is a local Federal Way–based lending team, and we put this guide together so you can see the real cash-to-close math in both counties before you make an offer. We'll walk through median prices, the true cost of closing, how down payment programs change the picture, and what ongoing costs like property taxes add on top. You'll finish knowing roughly what you need saved — and which assistance programs can close the gap.
King vs. Pierce County: The 2026 Price Reality
King County is the healthy, expensive pulse of the Seattle metro. As of July 2026, NWMLS data shows a median home price of $880,000 across all residential types (houses, condos, and townhomes), up 2.6% year over year. Narrow it to single-family homes and the median jumps to $1,015,000, while the median condo or townhome runs a much more approachable $579,494. It is a genuine seller's market: just 3.7 months of inventory and homes selling in a median of 16 days.
What accounts for the price difference? King County is home to Seattle, Bellevue, and the region's tech centers, and it carries the premium land and competition that come with it. Pierce County — Tacoma, Puyallup, Gig Harbor, Lakewood — trades some of that privilege for larger yards, better highway access to JBLM, and entry prices that let a first-time buyer actually compete for a starter home.
The buying experience differs just as much as the prices. In King County, low inventory means you should be prepared to act fast and present your strongest offer early; homes here sell in a median of 16 days. Pierce County is less frantic — buyers report more room to compare, negotiate, and take their time, with markets in several cities trending closer to balanced.
Beyond the Down Payment: Your Cash to Close
Most buyers fixate on the down payment and ignore what the escrow statement will actually demand. Your cash to close is the down payment plus a stack of fees and prepaids — the inspection, appraisal, title insurance, escrow fees, and the first year of homeowners insurance plus the first months of property taxes that your lender collects in advance. Together those add roughly 2% to 5% of the purchase price on top of your down payment in Washington.
Here's where the two counties diverge in practice. In King County, a 20%-down offer is common on well-priced homes because competition forces buyers to present their cleanest terms. The Pierce County market is friendlier to smaller down payments, and sellers are more willing to negotiate credits toward your closing costs. Asking the seller to cover a few thousand dollars of fees can meaningfully shrink the cash you need out of pocket.
The title and escrow line items
Two closing-cost categories deserve special attention in Washington. Title insurance protects you (and your lender) against claims on the title, and while costs vary by purchase price, it runs to a few thousand dollars on a median-priced home. Escrow fees are split between buyer and seller and cover the neutral third party processing the transaction. Your Loan Estimate — a standard form every lender must give you within three business days of applying — itemizes all of it, so there are no surprises at signing if you read it carefully.
Down Payment Requirements: 3% vs. 20% and the PMI Factor
The old advice to save 20% down no longer fits how most Washingtonians buy a home. In 2024, just under half (48%) of first-time buyers put less than 20% down, and 18% put down 5% or less, per Zillow. The real decision is not how much to put down; it's which loan program matches your finances — because each one sets its own minimum down payment and its own tolerance for mortgage insurance.
Here's how the major programs stack up for a buyer in King or Pierce County:
Conventional 3%-down (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac). As little as 3% down on a fixed-rate mortgage with a 620 credit score minimum in many cases. Below 20% down you pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) until your loan balance drops to 80% of the home's value, at which point it can be cancelled.
FHA (3.5% down). Popular among first-time buyers for its lenient credit requirements, but it carries an upfront mortgage insurance premium plus an annual premium baked into your payment.
VA (0% down). Available to eligible veterans and service members with no down payment and no monthly PMI — often the single cheapest way into a home in either county.
USDA (0% down). A no-down-payment option for homes in approved rural areas, which is far less common in the metro counties.
So what does the 20% vs. 3% choice actually cost you? On the same $598,000 Pierce County home, 20% down ($119,600) buys you the lowest rate and no PMI. A 3% down payment ($17,940) gets you into the same house for a fraction of the cash, but adds mortgage insurance and a higher balance to your monthly payment. The path you choose depends on whether your bottleneck is monthly cash flow or upfront savings.
Why PMI is not the enemy
Private mortgage insurance sounds like a penalty, but it's usually the tool that lets a first-time buyer own a home years earlier than waiting to save 20%. It's a monthly fee on your mortgage — typically a fraction of a percent of the loan — that protects the lender if you default. The key fact: once your equity reaches 20%, PMI drops off and your payment falls. Many buyers pay it for just a handful of years.
As a local lender, we'd add one honest note: in a hot King County market, a larger down payment (or an offer that waives financing contingencies) can make your bid competitive against other buyers. That's a tactical reason to aim higher than the minimum if you can — not because the program requires it, but because the market rewards it.
Closing the Gap: Washington Down Payment Assistance
You do not have to save the full down payment yourself. In 2024, 60% of first-time buyers who purchased received some form of down payment assistance — and Washington's state-run program is one of the most generous in the country. The Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) administers the effort through its Here to Home network of approved lenders, offering competitive first-mortgage rates plus down payment help through two main channels: Home Advantage and House Key Opportunity.
The flagship Home Advantage program targets buyers earning under $215,000 in annual household income, per Here to Home. Its down payment assistance loan contributes up to 4% of your mortgage amount — rising to 5% with a conventional loan — as a no-interest loan with payments deferred for 30 years. In high-cost areas the numbers go further: you can borrow up to $55,000 toward a down payment in Seattle, for example. A typical Home Advantage borrower, the WSHFC reports, receives about $10,000 in down payment assistance.
For lower-income buyers there are deeper options. The House Key Opportunity program pairs interest-rate discounts with assistance for households whose income falls below area median income thresholds, and the Commission's income limits are being raised for 2026. Add loan-specific programs on top and the state help stacks: the Needs-Based DPA offers a second mortgage of up to $10,000 (with a $147,400 income ceiling in King and Snohomish counties), Opportunity DPA reaches $15,000, and Veterans DPA gives eligible veterans up to $10,000 in deferred up-front help.
What's the catch? Down payment assistance generally requires a few commitments: a minimum credit score (usually around 620 to 640), income and home-price limits, a primary residence, and completion of an approved homebuyer education course. And most of these down payment loans must be repaid when you sell, refinance, or pay off the mortgage — though because payments are deferred and often interest-free, they mostly function as a second mortgage that you pay back at the end. For a first-time buyer in Pierce County, assistance of $10,000 to $15,000 can cover most or all of a 3% down payment on a median-priced home.
What Ownership Costs After Closing: Property Taxes
King County property taxes for the 2026 tax year are set to climb roughly 10% to about $8.4 billion — up $770 million from $7.7 billion — as voter-approved levies and rising assessed values raised the bill, with the county's total property value rising 5.4% to $920 billion. At the state level, Washington's effective property tax rate is about 0.75% of owner-occupied home value per the Tax Foundation. Both numbers point the same way: the ongoing tax bill is a real cost that lands on top of your mortgage payment.
There's also the question of who bears the transfer taxes at closing. Washington's real estate excise tax (REET) is a transfer tax based on the sale price — using a graduated scale that reaches 1.28% on the portion of a sale between $525,001 and $1,525,000 — and it is normally paid by the seller. Buyers don't usually write that check, but in a competitive King County market some sellers price it into their ask anyway, which nudges the cost of entry higher while Pierce County sellers tend to carry more of that burden themselves.
How Much Do You Actually Need Saved?
Let's put real numbers behind a plan you can start saving toward this month, using the two counties' median prices. These estimates total the down payment, closing costs, and reserves a lender typically wants to see.
Recall that a median Pierce County home runs about $598,000. At a 5% down payment, you'd start with $29,900 down plus roughly $12,000 to $30,000 in closing costs — meaning a cash-to-close of about $42,000 to $60,000 before considering that down payment assistance can cut the upfront portion dramatically. At 3% down on the same home, your starting cash drops to about $18,000 plus closing costs.
In King County, that same math on an $880,000 median home becomes stiffer. At 5% down ($44,000) plus closing costs you're near $62,000 to $84,000 to close; even a minimum 3% down payment ($26,400) means budgeting around $44,000 to $70,000 in ready cash. And because homes sell in a median of 16 days and offers often compete, a higher down payment is a strategic advantage that can win you the house.
Those are price-driven totals. Your personal number also depends on credit score (which sets your PMI and rate), the loan program you choose, whether the seller contributes credits, and whether you qualify for WSHFC assistance. That's why a pre-approval — not just a pre-qualification — is the single most useful step: it gives you an exact targeted cash-to-close figure before you start making offers.
Connect With a Local Lending Team
Whether King County's competitiveness or Pierce County's value draws you in, the sharpest next move is a conversation with a lender who knows these two markets. As a Federal Way–based team at Fairway Home Mortgage, the Howard Team underwrites purchases across both counties every week and can model the real cash-to-close math for the specific home you're targeting — down payment options, closing-cost credits, and which WSHFC assistance programs you qualify for. Reach out to get pre-approved, and you'll enter the market with a concrete number instead of a guess.
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