Closing Costs.
It's amazing how much all the little items add up to be. Everyone
is looking for their piece of your pie. Make sure you know what to
expect. But don't worry if you don't have that much cash.
There are ways to deal with them without shelling out cash at closing.
Let's first be clear on terminology.
Closing costs are a combination of various items associated with a real estate
transaction. There are 7 catagories on the closing statement. Most
of the costs are associated with the costs of obtaining a new mortgage.
Items
in Connection with a Loan
Loan origination fee
Loan discount
Appraisal fee
Credit report
Underwriting fee
Tax Service fee
Georgia Residential Mortgage fee
Flood Certification fee
Application fee
Processing fee
Items Required by lender
to be paid in advance
Interest for the rest of the month
Mortgage Insurance Premium
Hazard Insurance Premium
Reserves
Deposited with the lender Hazard insurance
Mortgage insurance
City property tax
County property tax
Annual assessments
Title Charges Title examination
Title insurance binder
Document preparation
Notary fees
Attorney fees
Lender title insurance
Owner title insurance
Government recording and transfer charges Recording fees
City/county/stamps
State tax/stamps
Additional settlement charges
Survey
Pest inspection
Courier fee
Closing costs for the buyer
will usually add up to 2-3% of the mortgage amount. Most of this is the
cost of getting the mortgage. If a buyer were to pay cash, there would only be an
attorneys fee of about $400, a recording fee of $10, and maybe a few small
processing fees. The buyer would also have the option of getting a survey
and purchasing title insurance.
The seller
is usually responsible for paying for the Realtor's commission if there is one
and some state transfer tax($1/thousand dollar of sales price).
As everything in life, it's all negotiable. Many times you'll see sellers
paying part or all of the buyer's closing costs. But don't get fooled into
believing that the seller is actually paying anything. The only one
bringing money to the table is the buyer. And usually the one walking away
with a check is the seller. If a seller agrees to pay the buyer's closing
costs he is actually only accepting a lower offer for his home. The
important thing to the seller is how much he actually nets out at closing.
Having
the seller pay closing costs ends up being a way a buyer can finance these
costs. An offer of $200,000 with the seller paying $5000 in closing costs
is exactly the same as an offer of $195,000 to the seller. But the first
way allows the buyer finance the $5000 closing costs and frees up the buyer's cash for
other things. Don't get bogged down on who is paying what costs. Focus on the
big picture and the bottom line. Sellers need to know what they will net
out at closing. Buyers need to know their total cost, and monthly payment.
Have
you heard the ad on the radio about how closing costs are a "racket"
and a "rip off"? I hate hearing someone distort the truth like
that. Yes, there are things like "no closing cost" loans. But
the interest rate you pay will be higher. There is no free lunch. If
you will be living in the home for 30 years, the increased payments due to a
higher interest rate will be much more than just paying for the closing costs up
front. If you will only be living in the home for a few years it might
make sense to do one of those loans.
Come in and
we'll discuss all of this in detail. Know what to expect before you get
the process started.
Our market area is in the
north metro Atlanta area.
We service Cobb County,
north Fulton County, Dekalb
County, Forsyth County and
Gwinnett County. We
are very familiar with Sandy
Springs, Dunwoody, Marietta,
Roswell, Alpharetta,
Buckhead, and Midtown.
We have sold homes inside
the perimeter and outside
the perimeter. We
can't know everything so for
clients who want to look for
property in Peachtree City,
Newnan, Stone Mountain,
Douglasville, Macon and
areas further out we will
gladly recommend a good
agent who specializes in
those areas.
We help buyers negotiate
with builders for
residential new construction
houses. New houses in
Atlanta are hot right now.
We can represent you in the
purchase of your new house
built by any of the
following builders: Torrey
Homes, MDC Homes, Centex
Homes, Pulte Homes, Morrison
Homes, Ryland Homes, John
Wieland Homes, Winmark
Homes, Meridian Homes, John
Willis Homes, Benchmark
Homes and many more home
builders.
We can help clients find
short term apartments for
rent but normally we don't
work with clients who are
just looking for rentals.
We do help clients find
Atlanta condos. We can
also help you purchase HUD
homes in Atlanta. We
are an authorized agent with
them and have the HUD key to
get into HUD homes. We
have access to foreclosure
homes that banks want to
sell.
We love showing executive
homes and luxury homes. We
always like to know how
people find our site.
Send us an email and tell us
which search term you used.
Some terms that we might be
found by are realty Atlanta,
Ga homes, Atlanta realty,
condos Atlanta, Atlanta
realestate, Atlanta
property, houses Atlanta,
Atlanta realtors, Ga houses,
or realtors Atlanta.
Maybe you found us by typing
in Atlanta MLS listings, or
Atlanta MLS search, or MLS
Atlanta GA. Hopefully we
don't come up under nursing
homes or funeral homes.
It is always amazing to me
how the Internet can allow
total strangers to find each
other and build new business
relationships. It
truly is becoming a small,
interconnected world.
