Closing Cost on Mortgage: Explanation and How Much you Will Pay

Sophie Woods

Closing Cost on Mortgage are the expenses you need to pay when you get a loan, whether you are purchasing a property or refinancing. Typically, you can anticipate paying around 2% to 5% of your property’s purchase price as closing costs. However, if you are obtaining mortgage insurance, these expenses might be even greater.

What Are Closing Cost on Mortgage ?

Closing cost on Mortgage are the expenses you get when finalizing the purchase of a home or property. These expenses encompass various fees like application fees, attorney fees, and discount points if applicable. Additionally, when factoring in real estate sales commissions and taxes, the overall closing costs can reach up to 15% of the property’s purchase price.

It is important to note that although these costs can be significant, the seller is responsible for paying certain fees, such as the real estate commission, which typically amounts to around 6% of the purchase price. However, there are some closing costs that the buyer is expect to cover.

How Much You Will Pay in Closing Cost on Mortgage

The total amount of closing costs in a real estate transaction can vary significantly, depending on factors such as the purchase price of the home, the type of loan, and the lender you choose. In certain situations, closing costs on mortgage can be as low as 1% or 2% of the property’s purchase price. However, in other cases where loan brokers and real estate agents are involve, the closing costs can surpass 15% of the property’s purchase price.

Expected Closing Cost Payment for Buyers

In total, buyers should expect to pay between 2% and 5% of purchase price in closing costs. Their portion of the costs typically includes:

One or two origination points—lender fees—that equates to 1% to 2% of the loan amount, and usually includes loan origination fees of $750 to $1,200)

$1,000 or more in loan underwriting fees for things such as an inspection, appraisal, survey and title work

One or more mortgage discount points if you choose to lower your interest rate by prepaying interest

Up to 2% of the loan amount as an initial mortgage insurance premium if you decide to use insurance or a government-issued loan (such as an FHA loan) that requires it

The details of the closing costs in a real estate transaction, as well as who is responsible for them, are specified in the disclosure sections of a purchase agreement. These details are determine based on the lender and loan type chosen by the buyer.

Regarding the mortgage itself, you can locate your mortgage closing costs in two documents: the loan estimate and the closing disclosure. It is mandatory for your lender to provide these documents. The content of the disclosures may differ depending on the lender, but they should include information such as the total loan amount, interest rate, annual percentage rate, and monthly payment schedule.

When Does a Seller Pay Closing Cost on Mortgage?

Sellers typically cover certain closing costs themselves. These expenses include real estate agent commissions, prorated real estate taxes, and transfer taxes. In some cases, sellers may also pay for a home warranty if they choose to provide one, as well as fees related to any property associations they are part of.

Furthermore, sellers may also take care of additional costs like real estate commissions and title preparation fees. However, the specifics of these expenses are subject to negotiation between the buyer and seller.

On the other hand, if you are refinancing your home, you will be responsible for covering all closing costs yourself.

How to Reduce or Avoid Closing Cost on Mortgage

After putting in months or even years of effort, saving for a down payment, hunting for the right property, engaging in price negotiations, conducting due diligence, and obtaining financing, the additional burden of paying closing costs can be an unwelcome surprise. These costs can make it even more challenging to manage the financial aspects of owning a new property.

With that in mind, a lot of people want to try to reduce or avoid closing costs. While it’s impossible to eliminate closing costs entirely, there are some things you can do to reduce your expenses, including:

Paying Cash for the Home

For most people, this isn’t an option. But if you can afford it, in some cases you will considerably lower your costs (perhaps by about 1% of the purchase price) if you don’t need a loan. You will eliminate loan origination fees and appraisal costs, among others.

Going Without a Realtor

As a buyer, you can’t really control the seller’s decisions, but if you buy a property that is for sale by owner, there are no commissions pay to real estate agents, which can cut closing costs considerably—for the seller, at least. Use this to negotiate for other seller concessions to lower your costs.

Using Seller Financing

Seller financing—when the seller acts as the bank by holding a mortgage and letting the buyer pay off the property over time—doesn’t usually involve origination fees, and may also allow buyers to skip things like surveys and appraisals. They may also be able to skip inspections, but we don’t recommend this as buyers should still know the state of the property they are buying before they close.

Avoiding Discount Points

Certain lenders provide borrowers with the option to reduce their interest rate by prepaying interest on their loan. This is known as “buying down” an interest rate. While this approach can be beneficial in the long run, as it reduces the total interest pay throughout the loan’s duration, it’s important to note that it also involves a significant upfront cost.

Avoiding Mortgage Insurance

If you can provide a down payment of 20% or more when obtaining a conventional mortgage, you usually won’t be require to pay for mortgage insurance. However, if your down payment is less than 20%, you may need to pay for mortgage insurance. On the other hand, if you choose to go with an FHA or USDA loan, their loan programs automatically include mortgage insurance as part of the package.

Moreover, in certain cases, some closing cost on Mortgage can be roll into the buyer’s loan amount instead of being pay in cash at the time of closing. The specific costs that can be include in the loan amount vary depending on the lender but may involve origination fees, appraisal and inspection fees, or title fees.

Although this may provide some initial cost savings by reducing upfront expenses, it’s essential to recognize that it will ultimately increase the overall cost of the mortgage. This is because you will be paying interest on these rolled-in expenses throughout the lifespan of the loan.

What is Included in Closing Cost on Mortgage?

The specific items included in closing costs vary from transaction to transaction and depend on the individual buyer, seller, property, property type, loan type and loan amount. While not all of these costs are paid by buyers, they are numerous:

Appraisal Fee

When buyers obtain a mortgage for a property, their lender wants assurance that the property’s value exceeds the loan amount. This is important because, in the event of a default, the lender would need to sell the property to recover their funds. To ensure this, lenders require an appraisal of the property. The cost of the appraisal may be paid separately by the buyer or added to the loan balance, depending on the circumstances.

Inspection Fee

Inspections are conduct to assess the condition of a property before a lender approves a loan. Similar to appraisals, lenders want to ensure that the property being use as collateral is in satisfactory condition and free from issues like termite infestations or water damage. Similar to appraisal fees, the costs associated with inspections may be paid separately by the buyer or, in some cases, added to the loan balance.

Loan Origination Points

Loan origination fees refer to a percentage of the loan amount that borrowers pay in order to secure their loan. These points, as they are commonly called, can encompass various expenses associated with the loan. They may cover the loan origination fee, which is typically a fixed amount, along with application fees charged by some lenders. Points may also include other fees imposed by lenders, loan broker fees, and other related costs.

Mortgage Discount Points

Certain lenders provide borrowers with the opportunity to reduce their interest rate by prepaying a portion of the interest that would be due over the loan term. This practice is known as “buying down” an interest rate. Typically, for every 1% of interest that borrowers prepay, they can expect to lower the interest rate on their loan by approximately 0.25% for the entire loan term. It offers borrowers the potential to secure a lower interest rate by paying upfront.

Mortgage Insurance Premium

When you make a down payment of less than 20% on a home purchase, your lender may require you to obtain private mortgage insurance (PMI). PMI helps protect the lender in case of default. It’s important to note that PMI may involve upfront premium payments in addition to ongoing monthly premiums.

If you opt for a government-back loan such as an FHA or USDA loan, you will also be require to pay premiums for mortgage insurance that is provide by those programs. These premiums serve a similar purpose of protecting the lender in case of default.

Prorated Real Estate Taxes

When someone sells a property, they are usually require to pay the real estate taxes for the portion of the year for which they have held the property. This is because the buyer will pay the real estate taxes for the full year when they get their property tax bill at the next billing cycle. The seller is simply crediting back the real estate taxes due for the portion of the year they owned the property.

Real Estate Commissions

Real estate commissions are usually paid by sellers when properties are listed for sale. These costs are usually at least 5% to 6% of the purchase price, but can be 10% or more, depending on the specific broker and property type.

Recording Fee

When someone buys real estate, a new deed showing their ownership must be filed with the local county recorder. This document shows the new ownership of the property, and counties typically charge a nominal fee for filing the new deed.

Stamp Tax

Transfer tax is owen when ownership of real property transfers from a seller to a buyer. In many cases, these taxes are small, but they can be substantial in some areas of the country.

Survey Fee

If a survey has not been done in a while or is unclear from previous deeds, a property may need a new survey before preparing the new deed. Surveyors outline the dimensions of a property to create a map that outlines legal boundaries and land features. Surveys also are necessary if someone is buying part of a parcel or buying multiple parcels that may be combine as part of the sale.

Title Fee

This is a fee that an attorney or title company charges for checking the title for a property. As part of this process, the attorney checks to make sure that the seller can actually convey a clean title and there are no liens or other encumbrances. They also prepare a new deed as part of the sale. The cost for these services usually ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on the state in which you live.

Title Insurance

Title insurance protects a buyer in case there are problems with the title from before purchase or if problems arise later if, for example, someone files a fraudulent deed trying to take possession of their property (a common form of fraud). If something happens that reduces the buyer’s interest in their property, title insurance will cover the cost to fix it.

Conclusion on Closing Cost on Mortgage

The closing costs owed when someone purchases a property can be substantial. Specific closing costs vary depending on the type of property you are buying, whether you are using financing and even your specific purchase agreement. While some of these items are pay by sellers, buyers should expect to pay 2% to 5% of their purchase price upfront as closing costs, in addition to their down payment.