Closing and Lawyer Fees? (insurance, mortgage, credit)

[lms5377]

can those of you who have recently purchased a home on LI please advise me of your approximate closing fees and breakdown. (specifically how much the lawyer costs)

my offer has been accepted and now i am trying to figure out what else is going to happen.
thank you!

[propain]

Originally Posted by lms5377

can those of you who have recently purchased a home on LI please advise me of your approximate closing fees and breakdown. (specifically how much the lawyer costs)

my offer has been accepted and now i am trying to figure out what else is going to happen.
thank you!

Depends. What type of loan? What bank? Taxes? Conventional or Jumbo? LTV? PMI?

All big factors. You also don’t need a lawyer to go to closing.

[Jdawg8181]

i paid $1600 for mine...most people's is higher than that.

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by lms5377

can those of you who have recently purchased a home on LI please advise me of your approximate closing fees and breakdown. (specifically how much the lawyer costs)

my offer has been accepted and now i am trying to figure out what else is going to happen.
thank you!

On average, attorney fees range from $1,000 - $1,500.

Closing costs depend on many factors, including on when during the year or when during the month your close. "During the year" refers to RE taxes which may have been prepaid by the seller and need to be reimbursed, ona pro-rata basis; "during the month" refers to the per diem interest charges you owe the lender for the remainder of the month during which you're closing. The first month you are borrowing funds for your mortgage, the interest is paid in advance; thereafter, interest is paid in arrears.
Example: if you close on the 15th of June, you owe interest for the remainder of the month and your first mortage payment will be due August 1st; if you close on June 30th, you're paid up, and your first mortgage payment will be due August 1st. That's one reason many buyers want their closing to be as close to the end of the month as possible - to keep the initial closing costs as low as possible. You're not paying more or less, it's just a matter of how soon

If the house has oil heat, then there is also a reimbursement for any oil left in the tank.

Sorry so long - hope it helps.

[totallyfrazzled]

My nephew closed on a house in March. His attorney charged $1100, and the bank's (mortgage) attorney charged $700.

His total closing costs including everything (attorney fees, mortgage costs, title policy, adjustments for oil, credit for disclosure waiver, etc) EXCEPT property taxes (see note below) came to about $11,000.

Watch out for those property taxes depending on when the closing is. My nephew knew he'd have to reimburse the sellers around $2500 for the portion of the first half taxes that they had already paid (since he closed in March, halfway through the first half tax bill). But he didn't expect that he'd also be required to pay the entire SECOND half of the year's tax bill AT the closing (he assumed he wouldn't be paying it until the Town's final due date of May 31st). The reason for this is that the banks consider the second half as a "potential lien on the property" and are now requiring that it be paid at the closing 'just in case'. So in addition to the approx $11,000 of other closing costs, he also had to pay over $9000 for the entire year's property taxes (from closing date through Dec 31st) at the closing. Good thing he had the $ available because he was not advised of this by anyone (lawyer, title company, or bank) prior to the closing!

[WJFM]

I paid 1100 for my Lawyer, but I was quoted prices ranging from 800 to 1800. Don't just go for the cheapest lawyer, try to get word of mouth references from people you know.

Even though it is not a requirement to have a Lawyer, I would highly recommend it for you. The lawyer will represent you to the seller ( and in most cases, the seller's attorney) and also give you advise on the contract and should represent you at closing. There could be lots of things in the contract that is not obvious to you and me, and lawyers will be able to help there. Most lawyers bundle their closing as part of the closing fees, and make your closing a breeze.

Even though there are many variables in closing costs, the 2 largest items in closing are dependent only on the loan. These are mortgage tax ( about 0.9% of the loan) and title insurance ( also about 1% of the loan). There are several other fees that could also add up to 1% of the loan. If you decide to pay points, that is also included in closing costs. I would say budget for 3-4% of loan amount for closing. If its anything more than 4%, look through to make sure why its so high. The lender might be overcharging you.

But first.. start with the inspection and an appraisal to make sure you know the comps. Then find a lawyer.. and then a lender. For one month just before closing, I used to read this everyday to determine when to lock my rate.. Mortgage Rates Predictions and Analysis.

All the best.

[twingles]

My parents are selling their house and they're probably going to use the lawyer rx by their RE agent, who quoted them $900. I'm sure that's somewhat ballpark but it's probably close to what it will be.

[lms5377]

thank you everyone for your feedback. it was very informative.

[Chrisk327]

I was quoted $1500 per transaction and have heard 1000-1800.

[alexei27]

we paid $900 but it was Jan 2008 and it was a package deal through a gov't relocation.