Many fees are regulated, however, depending on the price of the home, property taxes, homeowners insurance, there are prepaid fees as part of your closing costs that may be held in your escow account with the lender to make sure these fees are paid when due. Credit score may drive your interest rates, etc, however, in this present buyer's market, many buyers can have the seller pay these closing costs in the negotiations. If I can be of assistance, please call me at 856-261-6910 or search for homes at my website.

Janet Larsen, Broker/Associate
Remax Connection
660 Woodbury Glassboro Rd
Sewell, NJ 08080
856-415-1210, ext 321

The costs of closing a real estate transaction generally include the following: Title & escrow fees, lender fees, points (an optional expense), appraisal fees, credit fees, insurance and taxes.

In a purchase transaction the party responsible for paying the big ticket closing costs, the title, escrow fees and transfer taxes, is determined contractually (refer to your purchase contract).

You can pay the closing costs yourself or, to free up capitol, you can request that the seller pay. This generally means offering a higher price and paying more in the long term, but for many people it is more valuable to have the capitol reserve.

Also, I posted an answer to your short sale question but I forgot to mention something. HAve the contract allow for you to have the home inspection done AFTER bank approval, and an exit clause if the repairs are in excess of a certain amount that you don't wish to pay. This way you won't spend money on an inspection before you know if the bank will even sell it to you. Good luck!


Sincerely,
William Lockard
Realtor, Associate
Long and Foster – Haddonfield
Office: 856.795.6966
Direct: 856.616.7235
Fax: 856.795.9477
Email: william.lockard@lnf.com
Blog: WilliamLockard.wordpress.com

Find your dream home at http://www.WilliamLockard.com

PV:
Closing costs differ because different companies have different charges. While some things remain constant as a percentage, such as the transfer tax, even these will change as the transfer price goes up or down from first offer to final sales contract or from deal to deal. Some charges are fixed by law these days. some are not. You can get an estimate from your realtor and from the lender. Actual charges for things such as surveys will change after the contract is signed and a surveyor chosen, since It's my believe that their charges have yet to be regulated. (Speaking of that, some regulated charges seem to me to be government restraint of trade. Why can't firms charge what they want for services?)

The closing closts are determined by your credit score, the amount of equity in the property, the transaction type (purchase vs refinance), the the type of loan you receive (FHA vs Conventional), etc. FHA has upfront mortgage insurance which is 1.75% of the loan amount. There are pricing adjustment if you have lower scores, or are taking cash out on the property.

You also have to pay a title company to do some work on your loan. You mostly like with also have pre-paid items (this is your escrow account).

Another thing that will afffect the fees is the interest rate. The lower the interest rate, the more fee you can expcect to pay. This just means you are paying the bank for their services. The higher the rate, the lower your fee should be. This just means the bank will make the money when they sell your loan, but your monthly payment is normally higher since you are paying more interest.

Each bank has a set profit margin they need to make on each loan. If you shop around to 3 or 4 lenders, you should be able to find somehting to your liking. Hope that helps.

Danny Castagna
Sr Loan Officer
E-Mortgage Management
800-793-9633 ext 185
dcastagna@emmloans.com

Talk to your mortgage broker, but you can follow this ling for a general idea...

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/2008/closing_cost…

Laura Giannotta