In the maze of non-intuitive sounding phrases associated with a home purchase – ‘origination fee‘, ‘FICO score‘, ‘amortization schedule’ – one that invariably concerns buyers is ‘closing costs’.

More than concerning them, it sometimes prevents them from moving forward with dreams of buying their own place.

Particularly in the case of first time buyers, the idea of coming up with money for just the down payment seems daunting, forget about money for an attorney, lender fees, inspections and flowers for their agent.

No, wait. That last one is purely optional.

The truth is, closing costs can vary from region to region and will be impacted by the specific circumstances of the purchase. So trying to plan for them when starting the home-buying process can be hard.

A little information might help:

“Closing Costs” are precisely what the name says. They are the charges required to get the house ‘closed’, or finalized with the deed recorded at the courthouse. Both buyer and seller incur costs but the lion’s share are usually in the buyer’s column. If one is paying cash, the closing costs for the buyer will be minimal (attorney’s fee, appraisal if so ordered, deed recording, inspections if ordered, buyer’s share of property taxes for the year).

When the buyer gets a mortgage for the purchase, closing costs go up appreciably. This is because the lender will require certain things in exchange for loaning the money. These items will include charges for things such as loan origination fee, credit report, commitment fee, flood certification fee, mortgage insurance, title insurance, collection of tax and insurance money in advance in order to set up an escrow account, etc.,)

So, getting to the point, how much are closing costs? As a very broad rule of thumb, one can plan on closing costs equaling about 3% of the loaned amount. Here is a partial list of some customary charges in the Greensboro area.

If you’re quickly calculating the numbers and realizing that the minimum amount of down payment one can generally get now – 3.5% with an FHA loan – and adding to that the above mentioned 3%, you may be thinking there’s no way and consider clicking away from this site to go over to see what Perez Hilton has to say about Susan Boyle.

But don’t do it. And not just because gossip is not nice.

When making an offer on a house, a buyer can request the seller to pay for some or all of the buyer’s closing costs. In doing so, the buyer may need to adjust the purchase price amount to make up for the seller paying those costs. But an increase of $3,000 or $4,000 dollars in purchase price will raise one’s monthly mortgage payment a small amount compared to having to come up with those $3K-$4K up front. And if one buys before December 1st of this year, there is the ability to use the $8,000 first time buyer tax credit towards closing costs.

The moral of all this is “Don’t let fear of closing costs stop you from buying a house”.

Talk to a reputable lender and ask about all this. A good lender will provide you with a “Good Faith Estimate” of costs and a really good lender will be able to nail those numbers within $10.

There’s no harm, or cost, in asking the questions about buying a home. Deal with knowledgeable people. Don’t assume only OTHER people can buy a house. Give yourself a chance.

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If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

That’s a rather broad question, and one for which there is no simple answer. But there are certain costs associated with buying that can be pinned down a bit.*  [A good lender will provide you with a "Good Faith Estimate" for you to let you know, line by line, what your costs will be. If you don't receive one of these, change lenders.]

In the Greensboro area some costs you can expect to pay, as a buyer are:

• Credit Report Fee -$50 (usually paid at the time of loan application)
• Appraisal Fee -$350 (usually paid at loan application)
• Home Inspection -$325 (not required, but always recommended, usually paid at the time of the inspection)
• Pest Inspection – $60
• Attorney’s fee – $450
• Loan Origination Fee - 1% of mortgage amount (usually)
• Flood Certification Fee – $20
• Home Owner’s Insurance – $500 (paid 1-year in advance, at closing)
• Commitment Fee – $400
• Tax Service Fee – $70
  

These costs are in addition to your down payment and any prepaid property taxes you will be charged. And these are just estimates for what is customary in our market.

What is NOT customary is something I heard earlier today where a buyer (not represented by anyone in our company) paid $1000 for an attorney fee and $1500 in commitment fee. Outrageous. The lender told the buyer he had to use this particular attorney (“He does all our closings”).

Clearly, the lender and the attorney have a real back-scratching relationship going on. It makes me mad just thinking about it.

$1000 for an attorney?? In this area? $1500 commitment fee??!!!!

Please, please, please ask questions. And you are not obligated to use any attorney you don’t want to if you are the one paying the fee. If a lender can’t manage to get a loan closed unless “Dewey Cheatum & Howe” handles things, then move on down the road. There are too many excellent lenders out there who are anxious for your business to waste your time and money on one who thinks they’re in the driver’s seat in the transaction.

Grrr.. I’m angry on behalf of that buyer, whoever he is.