Foreign owned tax on sale or property

[JC Vande Gevel]

I’m at a loss for words. My wife is not a US citizen. We bought a condo in Tacoma, WA in 2013 that has seen a significant increase in value. I’m in the military and we have moved and are in the process of selling the unit. 

My agent just told me that since my wife is on the title of the property we have to pay 10-15% foreign owned property tax on the profit, this is a sickening feeling because the value has more than doubled. 

The other reason it is sickening is because she didn’t need to be on the title in the first place. My original realtor said she had to be on it because of WA state laws. She confused being a communal property state with the idea that meant both names had to appear on the title even though I am the only one on the loan. 

Anyway, I need help to understand this better. Whether someone in the BP community has advice or can suggest who I might even talk to about this? From what I was told, this error/issue wil cost us between $25-35k just for this tax. 

Don’t get me wrong, we have been blessed to buy a great property at the right time, but I could send a kid to college on that kind of money and it is possibly going to an avoidable tax.