Mortgage Fees (loan, fixed rate, interest, property tax)

[Mjames]

I received what should be my final settlement statement for the mortgage on my new house that closes next week and am curious about the fees for the mortgage. Would any of the fees listed below be considered junk fees? What about the amounts, are they reasonable? I did not list the property tax, insurance, or prepaid interest, since I know those are realistic.

This a 30 year conventional, fixed rate mortgage for $120,000, purchase price is $420,000. It is for new construction in South Carolina and I used the builder's lender. I did enough research to know the interest rate is competitve and the builder did give me $6000 for closing costs.

Loan Origination Fee--------$1200
Credit Report---------------$73.73
Appraisel Fee---------------$325
Tax Service Fee------------$81
Final Inspection------------ $75
Underwriting Fee------------$355
Processing Fee--------------$295
Life of Loan Flood Cert------$13
Settle/Close Fee------------$600
Abs/title Search------------$95
Title Ins. Binder-------------$85
Title Insurance Fee---------$1077
Recording-Mtg.-------------$45
State Stamp Tax-Mtg-------$1554
Survey Fee-----------------$225
Overnight Mailing Fee-------$45
Fax/Copy Courier Fee-------$50
File Archival Fee------------$45

Total Fees-----------------$6,238.73

Overall, I've been pleased with the whole process and responsiveness of the lender, so this question is really only to satisfy my own curiosity.

Thanks!

[TwiloMike]

The issues I would have are that the credit report fee is too high (I charge my borrowers what it actually costs me to run the report, so it would be about 1/10th of what's listed here). Did you have credit issues and need rescoring? That may explain the higher cost here.

The last three fees, Mailing/fax/Archival- I've never charged those and as I see them, they're fluff.

[Mjames]

Thanks TwiloMike;

No credit issues, but they did have to run credit twice because its been over 6 months since we were approved. Basically, we wanted the builder to build slowly and they accomodated our request. When we close Tuesday, it will be exactly 7 months from when we signed the contract with the builder.

Really appreciate the info....

[TwiloMike]

Originally Posted by Mjames

Thanks TwiloMike;

No credit issues, but they did have to run credit twice because its been over 6 months since we were approved. Basically, we wanted the builder to build slowly and they accomodated our request. When we close Tuesday, it will be exactly 7 months from when we signed the contract with the builder.

Really appreciate the info....

Even if they had to run credit twice, I don't expect it should have cumulatively cost more than $20. They may have a more expensive credit company they work with, of course... but the charge I see on the statement looks unreasonable to me. You're welcome.

[renriq02]

What type of product is it? 30yr fixed?

The fees seem average but what if the rate is 7%???

Rate/fees go hand in hand....

BTW - It depends on who they work with to pull credit.
I have seen companies charge 21bucks for a Joint Tri-merge credit report.

Who is charging the mailing/fax fee? Is that the attorney/3rd party or the lender?
Sending Fedex going back/forth isn't 'fluff'.

[TwiloMike]

OP, have there been FedEx packages sent between you and the bank/broker?

[Mjames]

renriq02;

Its a 30 year fixed. Rate is 6.375%, no points, locked in early July. From what I researched, I think I could have done a little better on the rate, but the logistics of working through another lender or broker would have been very difficult for me because I was on an assignment for my company out of the country. Plus, the monthly dollar impact of a slightly lower rate on a $120K mortgage is fairly small from my perspective.

I think it was the lender charging the mailing/fax fee. Back in January they did FedEx me a pretty big package with all the loan docs.

Thanks!!

[renriq02]

You mean lender/attorney

Originally Posted by TwiloMike

OP, have there been FedEx packages sent between you and the bank/broker?

[TwiloMike]

Originally Posted by Mjames

renriq02;

Its a 30 year fixed. Rate is 6.375%, no points, locked in early July. From what I researched, I think I could have done a little better on the rate, but the logistics of working through another lender or broker would have been very difficult for me because I was on an assignment for my company out of the country. Plus, the monthly dollar impact of a slightly lower rate on a $120K mortgage is fairly small from my perspective.

I think it was the lender charging the mailing/fax fee. Back in January they did FedEx me a pretty big package with all the loan docs.

Thanks!!

FYI: You didn't pay a "point" but you did pay an "origination fee" which is essentially the same thing. 1% either way in your case, which is what allowed them to give you a slightly better rate.

[renriq02]

Packages are sent to you...and to the attorney...and sent back after closing

Originally Posted by Mjames

renriq02;

Its a 30 year fixed. Rate is 6.375%, no points, locked in early July. From what I researched, I think I could have done a little better on the rate, but the logistics of working through another lender or broker would have been very difficult for me because I was on an assignment for my company out of the country. Plus, the monthly dollar impact of a slightly lower rate on a $120K mortgage is fairly small from my perspective.

I think it was the lender charging the mailing/fax fee. Back in January they did FedEx me a pretty big package with all the loan docs.

Thanks!!