How to Calculate Closing Costs

Purchasing a home is an exciting and rewarding investment, but it does come with a lot of financial responsibilities. When deciding to purchase a home it is important that you understand the funding that comes along with the home loan—not only is there down payments to consider there are also closing costs, which include but is not limited to escrow account fund, interest and PMI, (private mortgage insurance). Determining your closing costs is not intimidating; it is however, a mandatory requirement of purchasing a new home. The simple steps below will outline how to calculate your closing costs.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mortgage calculator
• Loan amount
• Purchase price of the home
• Down payment
• Financing
• Type of loan
• City
• County
• Loan terms

1. Use a mortgage calculator to help you determine an estimated closing cost for your home purchase. Many lending institutions offer this service free of charge.

2. Enter the loan amount you are seeking from the lending institutions

3. Enter the asking price of the home or value of the home. Because the loan amount will be based on this number be certain that it is as accurate as possible. Most lending institutions depending on the type of loan your are seeking may add a fee into the total purchase price of the loan— this is very common with VA loans (veterans loans), this fee is known as the VA funding fee and it is most often 1.5% to 3.3% of the loan amount, the funding fee may be financed in some cases depending on the lending institution you choose. Be sure to ask about any additional fees prior to obtaining the loan.

4. Determine the amount of the down payment that will be made on the house. In order to properly calculate the closing costs you must enter the loan amount desired and the actual value of the home, this means that if you request a loan for $400,000, you would need to enter a desired loan amount of $360,000 if applying for a 10% discount.

5. Know the type of financing you desire to use to purchase your home. Many banks only offer conventional loans, while others will offer both conventional and VA loans—VA loans do not require a down payment, which is why most lenders find them unfavorable.

6. Determine the loan type do you want a fixed rate loan or an adjustable rate mortgage, also known as an ARM. Remember that an ARM or adjustable rate mortgage is not a great option for everyone; determine what will suit your financial situation the best.

7. Enter the city where the home is located in to the mortgage calculator.

8. Enter the county of the home.

9. Decide the loan term you want to use; it can be a 10 to 30 year loan.

10. Press the calculate button to determine your estimated closing cost.

Tips & Warnings

• Speak to a mortgage representatives about the HUD-l form-- this forms outline the fees associated with closing costs.
• Be sure to enter accurate information to get an accurate closing cost estimate.
• Request the lending institution send you information on purchasing a home and read it.
• Consider purchasing points from the lender to lower your interest rate and closing costs.
• Never try to obtain a loan amount greater than what you are financial capable of repaying.

Resources

• Closing Costs -- FHA

[smc61]

on 10/29/2008 In regard to Who Can Help with Closing Cost and Tips & Warnings I have a good suggestion for making sure you get the closing costs you were quoted. Being in the mortgage business for the last 15 yrs I can tell you that you still have a couple of options to make sure that you were not unfairly overcharged. Your first course of action should be to get a solid comparison between the Good Faith Estimate and the HUD-1. One very helpful site is Closingcostfax.com. The site is run by software that compares the Good Faith Estimate to the HUD1 in a matter of seconds and provides you with a side by side comparison to any changes that took place from the original Good Faith Estimate to the HUD-1. Once you have the comparison in hand send it to the originator and ask for a detailed explanation for any cost that changed or were added to the HUD-1