Closing Costs?

lizziebee106

Hi, I've never posted on this board, but I have spent some time lurking.  I looked to see if this question had been asked recently, but I coudn't find it.

Anyway, DH and I are set to close on our first house Monday afternoon.  Our initial GFE had the settlement charges set at $4900 which seemed pretty reasonable to me. (We are buying the house for $175K).  My lender sent me the finalized GFE Friday and now the settlement charges are over 11K.  This seems like a HUGE jump to me!!  We are getting 5K in closing cost credit from the seller which covered the amount we were first quoted.  

Now I am getting really nervous.  I emailed my LO but she had left for the weekend and we aren't going to get our final amount to bring to closing until Monday morning.  

How much were your closing costs?  Am I responsible for all of the settlement charges on the GFE?

Sorry if this question gets asked all the time!

Thanks in advance for your help!!

Justinlove

Here are a few things that might be adding to your expected costs:

Homeowners insurance

Property taxes

HOA dues

 

Madringal

If any of them say POC next to them that means the were paid outside of closing. For example if you have already paid for your inspection, it Would say POC next to it.

nmoe

I'm buying for $170,000, and my estimated closing costs + prepaids (insurance, taxes, etc) is about $9,000. 

It sounds like they either didn't include the prepaids in your original estimate, or they gave you YOUR estimate costs (not including the total estimate - seller assist).  $5000 seems really low, considering that lender, underwriting, title fees, etc can add up to that, easily.

Jen&Jeff06

Are you comparing the inital GFE that you signed with a final, or are you comparing the inital to your HUD/Settlement Statement? Anytime your fees change more than 10%, your lender HAS to disclose a new GFE to you. This is not going to include your prepaids, such as taxes and insurance. This only refers to actual fees like title fees, origination, underwriting fee, credit report, appraisal, and a few other things.

If this wasn't disclosed to you properly, your lender would be out of RESPA compliance, but I would compare your initial GFE/TIL/Itemization of Amount Financed to the most recent one.

nsfw

That sounds very high to me. CCs are usually 2-3% of the purchase price of the home. PPs have given good advice.

Our home was $220K and I don't remember the actual number for closing costs but it was in the $5K range. $5600 sticks in my mind. We had to prepay our homeowners insurance for the year but that was separate (about $800).

jen&L

It does seem high to me, but I'm no expert here.  We're closing next week, and our GFE shows 2.2% of purchase price.

kfriscia

Are you getting a USDA loan by any chance? There is a 3.5% gaurentee fee that is listed on our gfe but it is added to our loan and not something we pay at closing. Ours is $4533 so it makes a big difference.

jennylove1084

Are you getting an FHA loan with 3.5% down or something like that?  When we bought last year, our 3.5% down was included in the closing cost statement.

lizziebee106

We are getting an FHA loan, so maybe that is part of the costs. 

I looked up the real estate transfer taxes for our city and we will end up paying $1500 less than what is listed on the GFE.  The title insurance is listed as $3K but from what I've been able to find for our zip code and purchase price, we should end up paying closer to $1K.  

Thanks for all the replies!