Closing Costs

Expenses, over and above the price of the property, incurred by buyers and sellers in transferring ownership of a property. Closing costs normally include an origination fee, an attorney's fee, taxes, an amount placed in escrow, and charges for obtaining title insurance and a survey. Closing costs percentage will vary according to the area of the country.

Your mortgage broker should give you a copy of your Good Faith Estimate (GFE), which will break down all of the closing costs of the loan.

Closing costs will vary depending on the program you choose. You credit scores can have an affect on what your closing cost will be if they throw you into a different category.

Closing cost can also vary depending on what part of the country you live in.

Borrowers beware of no money down advertising for purchasing a home. Although, it is true that you do not need to make a down payment on a home. There are still upfront costs that need to be paid called closing costs. These costs include lender fees, title/escrow fees, government fees plus various other fees. These closing costs usually range from 4% to 6% of purchase price. So, buyers need to take this into account when buying a home and applying for a mortgage.

One way to reduce your closing costs is to close late in the month. Lenders usually collect interest for the current month at closing. If you close on the fifth day of the month, you'll owe the lender 25 days of interest at closing. If you close on the twenty-fifth day of the month, the lender will collect 5 days of interest when you close. Closing at the end of the month can reduce your closing costs considerably if your loan balance and interest rate are high.

Closing costs occur with both purchase and refinance mortgage transactions. When refinancing, most borrowers elect to finance the closing costs into the new loan rather than paying directly out of pocket. The exception is the appraisal fee which many lenders require to be paid by the borrower directly to the appraiser at the time of the property inspection.

The closing costs can be put into the loan on a purchase or refinance. In a refinance it is just added to the loan amount and on a purchase most lenders will allow between 3-6% of the loan amount to be written into the purchase contract to cover closing costs.

This 3 to 6% allowance is usually called a seller's concession

Usually broken into 2 categories, there are non-recurring closing costs and pre-paid items. Non-recurring closing costs are anything paid once when buying property or getting a mortgage. Pre-paids are anything that recurs over time, such as taxes and insurance.

» DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article on 'Closing Costs' is a collection of contributions by licensed mortgage professionals and is not the opinion of Broker Outpost LLC. Always consult a licensed professional before applying for a mortgage.