Title and settlement on Kent Island: Stevensville and Chester

Kent Island at a glance for buyers and sellers

Kent Island lies at the eastern end of the Bay Bridge, and most of its homes have a Stevensville (21666) or Chester (21619) mailing address. Neither place is an incorporated town, so there is no town property tax and no town government to deal with. A Kent Island home pays Queen Anne’s County and state rates only, and its deed is recorded in Centreville, the county seat, rather than on the island.

The harder part is the water. The island’s shoreline runs along the Chesapeake Bay, the Chester River and Eastern Bay, so many homes sit close to tidal water, and that can affect the title work, the insurance and sometimes the settlement date.

This guide is general information about Maryland practice. Your contract and the facts of your purchase or sale decide how the rules apply to you.

The settlement taxes, and why first-time buyers do well here

A Kent Island sale pays the state transfer tax (0.5% of the price), the Queen Anne’s County transfer tax (0.5% of the price) and the county recordation tax ($4.95 per $500 of the price, about 0.99%). Enter your own contract price in the calculator on our Queen Anne’s County page to see the amounts and who pays them.

Here is the local difference for first-time buyers. The county’s published tax rates list a lower county transfer tax for them: 0.25% for first-time Maryland home buyers who will occupy the home as a principal residence. The state rate is halved for the same buyers, so a qualifying purchase pays half of each transfer tax. Together the two cuts save the equivalent of one full transfer tax. The county’s rate page shows no matching cut in recordation tax. Turn on the first-time buyer option there to compare, and we will confirm the rates that apply to your purchase before settlement.

Who counts as a first-time buyer: An individual who has never owned in Maryland residential property that was the individual's principal residence, buying improved residential property to occupy as a principal residence. Every grantee must qualify or be a non-occupying co-maker or guarantor of the purchase-money loan, and each must give a statement under oath. If you believe you qualify, tell us when you send the contract so the sworn statement is ready for settlement.

Who pays. In general, the signed contract decides. If it is silent, Maryland law presumes the buyer and seller split these taxes equally. When every buyer qualifies as a first-time Maryland home buyer as described above and gives the sworn statement, the law puts the whole state transfer tax on the seller, and the county transfer and recordation taxes as well unless the contract expressly says otherwise. So a Stevensville seller comparing two offers at the same price should check whether either buyer is a first-time buyer and how each contract splits the taxes. The difference can be large: the recordation tax alone is $5,420.25 at the median price. A purchase-money mortgage or deed of trust that meets the conditions in Tax-Property 12-108(i), including being signed within 30 days of the deed and recorded within 30 days after it, is not subject to recordation tax.

These taxes are only part of the bill. Title insurance, the settlement fee, lender charges, recording fees and the share of property tax and HOA dues are extra; our instant quote covers full closing costs for a Stevensville or Chester address. For county-wide detail see our Queen Anne’s County page, and for the exemption itself our first-time buyer transfer tax guide.

Yearly property tax. For FY2027 (July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027), island homes pay the county rate of $0.80 per $100 of assessed value plus the state’s $0.112 per $100. Through the Homestead Tax Credit, Queen Anne’s caps the yearly rise in the taxable assessment of an owner’s main home at 5% for county tax. The credit does not carry over to a buyer. SDAT mails an application to new owners after the deed is recorded, and the settlement agent must give the buyer a copy of the Homestead application at settlement. If the seller’s tax bill shows a homestead credit, budget for a higher bill once you own the home. The county’s rate page also lists a Kent Narrows district tax. The Kent Narrows Commercial Management and Waterfront Improvement District adds $0.06 per $100 of assessed value (FY2027); DLS notes this special tax does not apply to residential property.

Flooding, sea level rise and the critical area

The county's March 2016 sea level rise assessment flags MD 8 near Broad Creek, where storm surge (and, by 2100, higher tides) can cut off southern Kent Island. For a buyer, that raises two questions: could the house flood, and could you reach it when the road does?

Before you sign, or at least before your inspection period ends:

• Look up the flood zone. Enter the address on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center. If the building is in a Special Flood Hazard Area and you are borrowing from a federally regulated lender or with a federally backed loan, the lender must require flood insurance, and the premium can change what you can afford. Lenders can ask for it elsewhere too.
• Ask the seller. Ask about past water in the house, crawl space or garage, any flood insurance claims, and whether they have an elevation certificate.
• Look at the road. MD 8 is the main road to southern Kent Island. If you will rely on it, see it at a very high tide and ask neighbors how it fares in storms.

A title search will not tell you about flood risk; it shows what is recorded against the land. These checks belong to you and your agent, during the contract period.

Every Maryland sales contract must include a notice that the property may be in the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area, which generally covers land and water within 1,000 feet of the landward edge of tidal waters and tidal wetlands. So the notice matters for many homes that are not on the water. In Queen Anne’s County, the shoreline buffer runs at least 100 feet inland from the mean high water line, the top of the bank or the edge of tidal wetlands, and can be expanded up to 300 feet to take in nearby sensitive areas such as steep slopes or highly erodible soils. Building, grading and cutting or clearing vegetation in the critical area need county permits. If you plan a deck, pool, pier or addition, ask whether earlier work on the property was permitted, and check with the county’s Planning and Zoning office before you count on approval.

Other title issues we see on the island

• Sewer or septic. Queen Anne’s County has been bringing public sewer to communities on southern Kent Island, and the state approved the project’s first phase in 2016. Ask whether the house is on public sewer or a private septic system, whether your lender wants the well or septic tested, and whether any sewer charge or assessment is still owed on the lot. The county will not stamp the deed until the property’s taxes, utility and sanitary bills and any special assessment then due are paid.
• Older subdivisions. In an older subdivision, one house can sit on two or more recorded lots, or a shed, fence or driveway can cross a lot line. A survey shows how the buildings fit the recorded plat.
• Homeowners associations and condominiums. If the home is in an HOA, the seller must provide the association’s disclosure documents, and Maryland lets the buyer cancel within 5 calendar days of receiving them. Condominium resales follow a separate law, which gives the buyer 7 days to cancel after receiving the condominium’s resale documents. Ask for these documents early. If a listing mentions a community beach, pier or boat ramp, check what rights the deed and the community documents actually give you.
• Estates and family homes. When the seller inherited the home, the deed has to be signed by whoever has legal authority to sell, often the estate’s personal representative. Maryland inheritance tax may also be owed: 10% on property passing to non-exempt heirs (for example nieces, nephews, cousins, friends). Spouses, children and other direct descendants, parents, grandparents and siblings are among the heirs who are exempt. Our deeds and family transfers team can help with the estate paperwork.
• Out-of-state sellers. When the seller is not a Maryland resident, tax is generally withheld from the proceeds at settlement: 8.75% for an individual and 8.25% for a business entity, figured on the net proceeds actually paid to the seller. It does not apply in some cases, for example when the seller certifies under penalty of perjury that the home is their principal residence, or brings a Comptroller certificate showing that less or nothing is due. Ask us about these forms well before the settlement date.

How Maryland First Title helps on Kent Island

Maryland First Title is a title and settlement company led by Maryland real estate attorneys, serving clients since 1994. We will meet you on the island for settlement, at your home or another convenient spot, at no extra cost, or host you at our Glen Burnie office at 306 Crain Hwy N. Weekend and after-hours settlements are available by appointment. We search the title, issue the title insurance, hold the escrow, prepare the deed and see it recorded in Centreville. If you are borrowing, your lender will usually require a lender’s title policy. An owner’s title policy is optional in Maryland, and its premium is paid once, at settlement.

Start with our residential settlement service, or our help for selling without an agent and buying without one. Selling a rental or investment property on the island and buying another? Ask about a 1031 exchange before you sign. Call us at (410) 768-2300 or place an order.