Do you know all of the closing costs and fees associated with buying a home? As you make your way through the closing process, numerous costs and fees must be settled before you get your keys and become a homeowner. It is essential to know what these costs are and how much they add up to keep yourself financially prepared for purchasing your new home.
Buying a new home can be both astounding and intimidating. Remember the following fees when planning your home-buying budget to best prepare yourself.
Loan Origination Fees
These costs are associated with originating your particular loan. They are usually around 1% of the total loan value.
Appraisal Fees
An appraisal is a formal estimate of the value of a property and is necessary for most loans to be turned into the lender for approval. The cost varies depending on where you live, but you can expect it to cost somewhere between $300-$500.
Credit Report Fees
A credit-reporting agency runs a credit report to show your payment history with lenders. Debts owed, outstanding liens on the purchased home, etc. It costs about $50 for each report.
Title Insurance Fees
Title insurance helps protect buyers against losses due to problems with the title. If your title is defective, the insuring agency will pay you for any damages or costs incurred due to the defect in your title. The cost of this varies depending on where you live.
Title Search Fees
Whenever someone wants to transfer property, there has to be an examination performed by the title company to determine if there are any other claims on the property. This examination can result in either a “clear” or “clouded” title. If your title is clear, you will not have to pay for this search fee; however, if it is clouded, you will need to pay between $100-$400 (or more), dependent on your location.
Survey Fees
A survey is a document that shows the physical boundaries of an individual’s property. If you purchase new construction, there will be no fees for this service.
Escrow Fees
Escrow is a third party that acts as a fiduciary for buyers and sellers to secure transactions. During the closing, they handle all financial transactions, including disbursing funds and ensuring that everyone gets their due. Fees vary depending on where you live but range from $50 to $500.
Prepaid Items (PITI)
Prepaid items represent future expenses, such as property taxes and hazard insurance. You will need to pay the first month’s dues for these services to cover your first few months of paying these fees.
Homeowner Association Fees (HOA)
If you buy a home in a community overseen by a homeowners’ association, there will be fees for this service.
Document Preparation Fee
The real estate agent representing you will have to pay a fee to prepare all of the documents about your closing costs.
Property Tax Payments
If you own a home already and are taking out a loan to buy another, the lender may require that you pay any back property taxes that you owe. This is because your current lender will need to know precisely how much the tax liability on the new property is before they can approve your loan.