-- That application fee seems a bit high.
-- I can't believe that you have to pay an Attorney Review fee. That's usually rolled up in the attorney fee which itself seems a bit high but not awful.
-- Title insurance (lender's and owner's) is a little expensive but not by much.
-- Survey seems high but not egregious.
I thought that actual closing costs couldn't differ by more than 10% from estimated closing costs. Are these costs in-line (i.e. less than 10% different) from the estimated closing costs?
I've bought three houses and each time I've "felt" that I've gotten ripped off but I doubt my costs were much different than anyone else's. Just like with medical procedures, it's hard to "shop" for services.
I will say this, don't feel like you have to do anything. If you are ok with not having the sale go through (either delayed and/or canceled outright), stick to your guns. I wished I would have done that with one of my houses and it still pisses me off to this day.
Is there any specific cost that you are concerned about?
Keep in mind that almost $7,000 is prepaying taxes and interest, either for escrow or directly to your local government. Those can add up but they aren't costs that you can negotiate or avoid.
The $775 application fee is a lot, but that is something that you should have negotiated at the time.
delamer wrote:Is there any specific cost that you are concerned about?
Keep in mind that almost $7,000 is prepaying taxes and interest, either for escrow or directly to your local government. Those can add up but they aren't costs that you can negotiate or avoid.
The $775 application fee is a lot, but that is something that you should have negotiated at the time.
What is this application fee? My mortgage guy said they'll charge me only $500 for the loan. Is that that fee?
I'm a lender, and that looks pretty standard. Here are a few items though to maybe ask about.
1. You technically don't have to pay for an owners title policy (at least where I am in Texas). It's recommended if you are paying cash since there would be no lenders policy, but if the lender is insuring there are no existing liens on the property, you doing so as well with your own policy is pretty much irrelevant. So I'd ask the title company if they can remove that.
2. The various legal fees under "Other" are items I never see. But I know in some northeastern states there are all kinds of required legal fees to transfer property titles so they may be perfectly legit. Ask if you don't understand them though.
As you can probably see though, most of the "closing costs" are prepaid items like taxes and insurance and required items like title fees which are typically set by the state and not really negotiable. Take advantage of the title agent though and don't be shy if you need him or her to walk you through each line item. That's what you are paying them for.
"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin
delamer wrote:Is there any specific cost that you are concerned about?
Keep in mind that almost $7,000 is prepaying taxes and interest, either for escrow or directly to your local government. Those can add up but they aren't costs that you can negotiate or avoid.
The $775 application fee is a lot, but that is something that you should have negotiated at the time.
What is this application fee? My mortgage guy said they'll charge me only $500 for the loan. Is that that fee?
Yep, that's their fee for the loan. If he told you it would be $500 I'd question him on it, especially if he told you that in an email or other writing. Usually that's a standard fee though that the lender charges everyone. If you signed a disclosure that reflected a $750 fee and that's their policy, your guy may just have been mistaken (maybe the fee just went up recently) and you'll have to pay the higher amount.
"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin
There seems to be a lender credit of $900 that may be offsetting part of the other fees (application fee?)
The reason there are two entries for title insurance are, I would guess, related to the 80% mortgage (so the title company is insuring for the lender), and 20% down payment (insuring the home buyer's equity basically). That's a guess - I'm no expert.
I paid $575 application fee but lender paid for the $500 appraisal (via lender credit). This stuff can be negotiated at the beginning when you're choosing your lender.
You can also get quotes from various titling companies and negotiate their rates. I saved $100 doing that.
Chase the good life my whole life long, look back on my life and my life gone...where did I go wrong?
What I find egregious are the commissions being paid... good thing it's not by you.
Otherwise, the fees do not look outrageous. They give you a $900 credit but make it up by charging you an app fee and some other fees. Lender's title is ok, I've seen a lot worse.
What's the "Title exam and searches"? I don't recall seeing that on any of my docs, but it's been a few years now so I could be forgetting.
jaj2276 wrote:... -- I can't believe that you have to pay an Attorney Review fee. That's usually rolled up in the attorney fee which itself seems a bit high but not awful. ....
That's the fee for the bank's lawyer. It's so tiny because the buyer's lawyer prepares the documents for review by the bank's lawyer.
Notwithstanding the above comment, $1,000 for the buyer's lawyer in New Jersey is very reasonable.
Dottie57 wrote:Justwondering why you are asking about fees on such short notice. Did the lendor just give you the figures?
It's a major purchase, and most folks are a bit skittish when signing a letter that begins "I promise to pay..........". That said, this is not the first post the OP has made with the title "am I being ripped off". Real estate deals have high transaction costs - everyone has their hands in your pocket.
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
jaj2276 wrote:... -- I can't believe that you have to pay an Attorney Review fee. That's usually rolled up in the attorney fee which itself seems a bit high but not awful. ....
That's the fee for the bank's lawyer. It's so tiny because the buyer's lawyer prepares the documents for review by the bank's lawyer.
Notwithstanding the above comment, $1,000 for the buyer's lawyer in New Jersey is very reasonable.
I don't think that's correct. Attorney Review usually is the period between when a contract is signed and when it becomes enforced. Usually this is 3 days. That's obviously well before a bank ever gets involved. I've been involved in sales where there are explicit attorney review periods (NY) and not (SC). In both cases, I've never been charged a fee for attorney review and I've never been charged a fee for a bank's attorney.
I can sympathize. I don't know a lot about closing costs but I helped my son with closing on a house and my attorney thought that the closing costs were on the high side. I had enough questions about the deal that the attorney's fees were on the high side too! (350 bucks an hour adds up.)
The plus side of that was that my son was able to fix up the house, it was a foreclosure needing some work and he made a nice profit. So we got over the high closing costs. I hope if they are high that you end up like my son, getting an overall great deal on the house and can sell it for a nice profit later.
Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it."
