Title & escrow • Nelson County, Virginia
Title and escrow across Nelson County.
From Wintergreen and the Route 151 valley to Lovingston, Nellysford, and the farms and vineyards in between, Prime Title and Escrow handles residential, resort, and commercial closings across Nelson with attorney-led care. Clear title, protected funds, and closings that land on time.
Mortgage Rates
30-Yr Fixed6.53%15-Yr Fixed5.69%5/1 ARM6.10%FHA 30-Yr6.30%VA 30-Yr5.63%Jumbo 30-Yr6.45%30-Yr Refi6.64%30-Yr Fixed6.53%15-Yr Fixed5.69%5/1 ARM6.10%FHA 30-Yr6.30%VA 30-Yr5.63%Jumbo 30-Yr6.45%30-Yr Refi6.64%
National averages as of June 17, 2026Prime Title and Escrow is a title and escrow company, not a lender. Rates are for general information, not an offer. Contact a lender for a personalized quote.
Local to Nelson County
Blue Ridge country, west of Charlottesville.
Nelson sits in the Blue Ridge southwest of Charlottesville, a rural county of around 15,000 residents spread across more than 470 square miles of mountains, valleys, and orchards. It is best known for Wintergreen, a mountain resort community, and the Route 151 valley, with its wineries, breweries, cideries, and distilleries. Home values run among the more affordable in the region, a median in the upper $200,000s, though resort and mountain-view property and recent sales run higher.
That mix is what shapes a closing here. Wintergreen brings a resort community with its own association rules and resale packages, while the rest of the county runs to working farms, vineyards, mountain-view estates, and country homes on acreage with well and septic, boundaries, and access easements to check. Nelson has no incorporated towns, so the whole county records in one place, with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in Lovingston, the county seat. If you are buying, our guide to what happens at a Virginia closing and our first-time home buyer guide walk through each step.
What shapes a Nelson closing
- Deeds record at the Nelson Circuit Court in Lovingston, the county seat
- No incorporated towns, so the whole county records in one place
- Wintergreen is a resort community with its own association
- Resort and second-home purchases, some as short-term rentals
- Farms, vineyards, and mountain-view homes on acreage
- This circuit court does not require a recording cover sheet
Nelson County by the numbers
A small, rural mountain county.
15K
residents across a large, rural Blue Ridge county
U.S. Census Bureau
$259K
median value of owner-occupied homes, with resort property higher
U.S. Census Bureau
80%
of county homes are owner-occupied
U.S. Census Bureau
$65K
median household income
U.S. Census Bureau
Behind every one of those homes is a title that has to transfer clean. That is our work.
Where we close in Nelson
The resort, the valley, and the farms.
From Wintergreen and the Route 151 valley to Lovingston and the farms and vineyards across the county, we close throughout Nelson, for buyers, sellers, investors, and lenders.
One county, no incorporated towns
Nelson has no incorporated towns. Lovingston is the county seat and Nellysford the largest community, and every property in the county, including Wintergreen, records at the same county court.
Lovingston • Wintergreen • Nellysford • Afton
Where deeds recordDeeds record with the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Nelson County, at Courthouse Square in Lovingston. We handle that filing for you as part of closing, wherever in the county the property sits.
Communities across the county
From the mountains to the river valleys, here are the areas we serve.
The Blue Ridge and Route 151: Wintergreen, Nellysford, Afton, Roseland, and the Rockfish Valley.
The center: Lovingston, Faber, Shipman, and Arrington.
The west and south: Massies Mill, Tyro, Montebello, Piney River, Schuyler, and Gladstone.
The same standard, every closing
What we handle on a Nelson file.
Title search and exam
We trace ownership and pull what is recorded against the property in the Nelson land records. More on what a title company does.
Clearing the title
Liens, judgments, easements, and mountain boundary and access questions resolved before closing, so title transfers clean and insurable.
Secure escrow
Your funds held and disbursed through protected escrow, with wire instructions verified by phone.
Recording and policy
We record the deed with the Nelson Circuit Court and issue your title insurance policy.
Closing costs in Nelson County
What recording a deed costs here.
Nelson is not in Northern Virginia, so a sale here does not carry the regional WMATA and congestion fees that apply up there. That keeps the seller’s recording costs simpler. The buyer generally pays the state recordation tax, and the seller, as grantor, pays the grantor’s tax.
The exact amount depends on your sale price and the deed. We calculate the precise numbers for your transaction and lay them out before closing. For the bigger picture, see our guide to closing costs in Virginia.
Recording charges on a Nelson sale
- State recordation tax: $0.25 per $100 (Va. Code 58.1-801), usually the buyer
- Local recordation tax: about $0.083 per $100, one third of the state tax (Va. Code 58.1-814)
- Grantor’s tax: $0.50 per $500 (Va. Code 58.1-802), the seller
- No WMATA Capital Fee or Regional Congestion Relief Fee, those are Northern Virginia only
Sources: Code of Virginia, Title 58.1, Chapter 8, and the Virginia Department of Taxation. This is general information, not tax or legal advice, and the exact amount depends on your transaction.
Why Nelson clients choose Prime
Attorney-led, independent, and local.
Attorney-led
Two real estate attorneys oversee your file, so if a resort association question or a mountain boundary line comes up, you have legal judgment on it, not a checklist.
Wintergreen closings
A resort community brings its own paperwork. We handle the resale package, association dues and transfer items, and any rental or community rules, so a Wintergreen purchase closes smoothly.
Farms and vineyards
Much of Nelson is working farms, orchards, vineyards, and mountain-view acreage on well and septic. We handle the surveys, easements, and rights of way that come with country land.
Commercial too
Along Route 151 and Route 29 and around Lovingston, we handle commercial closings, from tasting rooms to retail. See our commercial services.
How a closing runs
A clear path from contract to recording.
1
Open and order
We open the file, confirm the property, and order the title search, any survey, and any association resale package.
2
Title commitment
We review what is recorded and surface liens, easements, and boundary questions.
3
Clear and confirm
We resolve defects and confirm the figures with your lender and the parties.
4
Coordinate closing
We align buyer, seller, lender, and agents, and schedule the signing.
5
Fund and record
We protect and disburse the funds, record the deed with the Nelson Circuit Court, and issue the policy.
Nelson questions
What people ask us.
Do you handle closings throughout Nelson County?
Yes. We close across the entire county, from Wintergreen and the Route 151 valley to Lovingston, Nellysford, Schuyler, and Shipman, for buyers, sellers, investors, and lenders, residential and commercial.
Do you handle Wintergreen purchases?
Yes, and they have a few extra moving parts. Wintergreen is a resort community with a property owners association, so a closing there involves the resale package, association dues and any transfer fee, and any rental or community rules. We handle those alongside the title work.
Where do Nelson County deeds get recorded?
With the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Nelson County, at Courthouse Square in Lovingston, the county seat. Nelson has no incorporated towns, so the whole county records in one place, and this circuit court does not require a recording cover sheet. We handle the filing for you as part of closing.
I am buying a farm, vineyard, or mountain acreage. Does that change closing?
It adds a few things to check. Larger rural and mountain parcels often raise boundary lines, access easements, rights of way, water sources, and well and septic matters, and we make sure those are clear and properly reflected in the title before you close.
What are the seller’s grantor taxes in Nelson?
As grantor, the seller pays Virginia’s grantor’s tax of $0.50 per $500 (Va. Code 58.1-802). The buyer generally pays the state recordation tax of $0.25 per $100, and there is a local recordation tax of about a third of the state amount. Because Nelson is not in Northern Virginia, the regional WMATA and congestion fees do not apply.
Do you handle second-home and commercial closings in Nelson?
Yes. Many Nelson buyers are purchasing a mountain second home or a property to rent, and we handle those, along with commercial closings around Route 151, Route 29, and Lovingston, from tasting rooms to retail.
Closing in Nelson County?
Send us the property and the timeline, and we will send back a clear quote with no guesswork. Independent, attorney-led title and escrow for Nelson County and across Virginia and West Virginia.
(703) 552-4155Serving Nelson County and Central Virginia