It may seem surprising, but did you know that the majority of homebuyers today aren’t aware of closing costs? You may find that you have prepared for homeownership with your down payment and even have your first month’s mortgage ready in your bank account, but this very important set of costs is commonly overlooked.
As your local real estate agent on Chicago’s North Shore, I’ve included a few key notes on closing costs below so you are better equipped to make the biggest, most important purchase of your life!
What Are Closing Costs?
Closing costs are recurring and non-recurring fees connected to both your lender and other parties in the sale—for instance, an attorney, inspector and title company—and are to be paid upfront at the closing table. Unless you have financed them ahead of time or worked your offer to arrange for the seller to pick up the tab, unfortunately there is no way around these costs.
Closing costs typically include:
- Homeowners insurance
- Title insurance
- Loan origination
- Home inspection
- Appraisal
- Document prep
- Property line survey
- Title search and recording
- Loan underwriting
- Wire transfer
How Much Will They Cost?
Closing costs tend to range between two and five percent of the total purchase price of the home.
How Can You Prepare?
It is true that you may not know how much you will owe in closing costs until you find a home in Glencoe, Winnetka, Highland Park, Deerfield, Northbrook, Lake Forest, Wilmette, Evanston, Glenview, Riverwoods, Bannockburn, or other North Shore communities and meet with a lender, but you can still gather a general idea based on your price range alone. For instance, with a budget for a new home around $150,000, you can expect to pay between $3,000 and $7,500 in closing costs.
Once you’ve met with your lender on the North Shore, you can estimate how much you will owe in closing costs given your loan product, loan amount and the interest rate you are offered. You can use a mortgage calculator to estimate your monthly payment and how that will fluctuate depending on if you’ve decided to finance the closing costs into it.
Give me a call today to get started on your North Shore home search or with any questions you have about buying a home in today’s market.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Janie BressYour North Shore Real Estate ExpertNorth Shore Real Estate
View North Shore Listings
Visit My Website
Local Expert… with National Connections!