Buying a home near Fort Meade: towns, taxes and the military notice

Fort George G. Meade, in Anne Arundel County, is home to the NSA, U.S. Cyber Command and DISA, and it has the third-largest workforce of any Army installation. The communities closest to the base include Odenton and Gambrills to the east, Severn and Hanover to the north and northeast, and Laurel to the west.

Buyers usually weigh commute, schools and price when choosing among these places. The settlement taxes, though, follow the county line. This guide compares the five places county by county, explains the military notice found in most local contracts, and covers the paperwork that can trip up buyers and sellers who move on orders.

Five places, three counties

Odenton, Gambrills, Severn and Hanover are unincorporated parts of Anne Arundel County. They have no town government and no town tax. Laurel is different. The City of Laurel is in Prince George’s County, but a “Laurel, MD” address outside the city limits can be in Prince George’s, Anne Arundel or Howard County. The Hanover ZIP code, 21076, also reaches into Howard County. Look the address up on the SDAT Real Property search before you compare houses, not after; our guide to finding which county an address is in shows how.

The state transfer tax is 0.5% of the price on a standard sale. On top of that, each county charges its own transfer tax and recordation tax:

Recordation tax is worked out on each $500 of the price, with any part of $500 counted as a full $500. A purchase-money mortgage or deed of trust recorded with the deed is generally not subject to recordation tax.

The yearly property tax bill differs too. For FY2027 (July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027), the Anne Arundel side pays $0.968 county plus $0.112 state per $100 of assessed value. For an owner-occupant, the homestead credit limits the yearly rise in the taxable assessment to 2% for county tax. Inside the City of Laurel the rates are $0.71 city plus $0.867 county plus the state rate, with a homestead cap of 10% on the city tax and 3% on the county tax. Howard County adds a fire tax of $0.206 per $100 to its county rate of $1.044 per $100 of assessed value, and its homestead cap is 5%. Howard homes in the Metropolitan District also pay a $0.08 per $100 ad valorem charge. The state tax uses a 10% cap everywhere.

What the taxes come to

The estimator above uses Anne Arundel rates, which apply in most of these places. It starts at the county median sale price of $509,990, where the state and county taxes add up to $11,219.85. Enter your own price to see each tax and the buyer’s and seller’s shares. For a home in Prince George’s or Howard, use the rates in the table above, our Laurel guide or the Howard County closing costs guide, or ask us for a figure.

Those figures cover the government taxes and nothing else. Title insurance, the settlement fee, the lender’s charges and recording fees come on top, along with the split of the year’s property tax and any HOA dues between buyer and seller. Our instant quote estimates the full cost for a given price.

Who pays: the split, first-time buyers and VA loans

If the contract is silent, Maryland law treats the transfer and recordation taxes as half the buyer’s and half the seller’s. Many contracts set a different split, so check that paragraph before signing.

If you are moving here from another state, check the first-time buyer rule. The test is whether a buyer has ever owned a Maryland home that was their main residence, so someone who owned a house in another state can still qualify. If every buyer passes that test and moves in, the state transfer tax becomes 0.25% of the price, paid entirely by the seller. The county transfer tax and recordation tax then shift to the seller as well, unless the contract expressly says the buyer pays them. A buyer who is on the deed only as a co-borrower or guarantor of the loan, and will not live there, is not held to the test. A buyer who owned and lived in a Maryland home on an earlier tour does not qualify. Every buyer on the deed signs a sworn statement at settlement, either as a first-time buyer who will live in the home or as a co-borrower or guarantor who will not. Our first-time buyer exemption guide covers the details.

If you are using a VA loan, the seller may pay some or all of your closing costs. VA rules cap other seller concessions, meaning anything else of value the seller adds, at a share of the home’s reasonable value shown on the VA Notice of Value. The VA funding fee can be added to the loan, but most other costs are due at settlement. Ask your lender how much the seller can contribute, and put any seller credit in the contract so the lender can account for it.

The military installation notice

Maryland law puts a noise notice in residential sales contracts. It tells the buyer the home may be near a military installation where flights, munitions testing or other operations can be loud. Seven counties are left out of the rule, Howard among them. Anne Arundel and Prince George’s contracts must carry it.

The wording is the same for every house the rule covers. It is not a finding about the home you are buying, it is not something a title search turns up, and title insurance does not cover noise. If sound matters to you, visit the street on a weekday and again in the evening. For planned growth around Odenton, see Anne Arundel County’s 2024 Odenton Town Center Master Plan. For airport noise to the north, our Severn and Hanover guides explain the BWI noise zone map.

Every Maryland sales contract also carries the state’s critical area notice. It tells the buyer the property may be in the Chesapeake Bay critical area, where extra zoning, land use and resource protection rules apply. The critical area generally covers land and water within 1,000 feet of tidal waters and tidal wetlands, so in practice the notice matters only for a home that close to the water. Howard County has no critical area land.

Settling on a schedule set by orders

The contract sets the settlement date. Before then, we search the land records, the lender orders the appraisal and approves the loan, and federal rules set a waiting period between the buyer receiving the lender’s Closing Disclosure and settlement. A report date on your orders can leave little room for all of that, so tell us your deadline as soon as the contract is signed.

Selling after you have left. Tell us early if you may be gone by settlement. We can talk through whether you can sign the deed and other papers before you leave, or whether someone should sign for you under a power of attorney. Maryland requires a power of attorney used to sell property to be signed in the same way as a deed and recorded. Send it to us well before settlement so the buyer’s lender and the title insurer can review it.

Selling as a nonresident. If you are not a Maryland resident when you sell, Maryland requires income tax to be withheld from the sale: 8.75% of the net proceeds paid to an individual seller, and the deed cannot be recorded until it is paid. Some sales are exempt, for example when each seller certifies under penalty of perjury, in the deed or a recorded affidavit, that the home is their principal residence. A seller can also apply to the Comptroller for a certificate of full or partial exemption. Ask your tax adviser whether you count as a Maryland resident and whether a home you left on orders still counts as your principal residence, and tell us early. Our nonresident seller withholding guide explains the process.

Homestead credit. The seller’s homestead credit does not pass to the buyer. You receive a copy of the application at settlement, SDAT mails one after the deed is recorded, and you can file it once the home is your main residence. Our homestead credit guide explains the timing.

Title points we check around Fort Meade

Which county, which courthouse. When an order comes in, we confirm the county from the tax record. Anne Arundel deeds are recorded with the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Land Records Department in Annapolis. Prince George’s deeds, including City of Laurel deeds, go to the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Land Records Division in Upper Marlboro. For a Howard County home there is an extra stop: Howard’s Recordation Tax Office in the Department of Finance collects the county transfer and recordation taxes first, then the deed goes, with the state transfer tax and recording fees, to the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Howard County, Land Records and Licensing Department in Ellicott City.

Associations. If the home is in a homeowners or condominium association, we get a statement of the dues owed so the account is paid up to the settlement date. Maryland law also gives buyers a short window to cancel in writing if they did not receive the association’s required disclosures in time; for a condominium resale, the window runs from when the buyer receives the required resale papers. Read those papers as soon as they arrive, and ask your agent or us about the deadline.

Deferred water and sewer charges. On the Anne Arundel side, the county has let some eligible older or disabled owners defer water and sewer connection charges or front foot benefit assessments. A deferred amount stays a lien on the property and is due in full when the home is sold, so ask the seller about it early; our Anne Arundel closing costs guide has more. In Prince George’s, a contract for the initial sale of a home with deferred private water and sewer assessments recorded by a covenant or declaration must disclose them, including the yearly amount, the payments and balance remaining, and the payoff amount.

Wells, septic and boundaries. A home on a private well or septic system may need water or septic tests for the loan, so ask your lender at the start. If the boundary is in doubt, get a survey before settlement.

Estates. When the owner has died and the home passes through probate, the personal representative appointed in the estate usually signs the deed, so the estate has to be opened before settlement can happen. A home held jointly or in a trust may pass outside probate, and then different papers are needed. Our deeds and family transfers service and the guide to selling an inherited house in Anne Arundel County walk heirs through it.

How Maryland First Title helps

We are an attorney-led title and settlement company with our only office at 306 Crain Hwy N in Glen Burnie, and we have handled Maryland settlements since 1994. We handle title and settlement across the whole state. Our attorneys will meet you anywhere in Maryland at no extra cost, including near the base, hold meetings online, or see you at our office. Weekend and after-hours settlements are available by appointment, which helps when duty hours do not fit a weekday. We issue owner’s and lender’s title policies through Stewart Title, hold the money in escrow and record the deed in the right county.

An owner’s title policy is optional in Maryland. If you choose one, you pay the premium once, at settlement, and it covers many problems hidden in the public record, subject to the policy’s terms and exceptions. Read why title insurance matters before you decide.

Before you wire any money, read our wire fraud warning. We do send wiring instructions by email, so always confirm them by calling us at 410-768-2300, the number on this website, before you send money. Never use a phone number from an email. For more, see residential settlements, buying without an agent, our buyer’s checklist and the Anne Arundel County closing costs guide.