Real Estate Closing Cost Vent!

[minmin001]

As some of you may know. I've been looking for a house in this crazy market for awhile now. I was finally about to go under contract for a sweet starter home (YAY!)
All my savings are going into it and yesterday my broker gave me the fee break down for the closing.
Fees from lender
Underwriting Fee $695
Wire Transfer Fee $90
Leander Doc Prep Fee $150
and the list just goes on and on.
I did little google research and people say most of those fees are negotiable since the lender is really just passing over their over head to the customer and I know for FACT that it does NOT cost $90 to wire transfer money so they are even trying to make money out of me!
What really sucks is the broker wouldn't really work on the fees with me and I'm closing soon. I don't want anything happen to this deal since it took me alot of work and alot of luck to get it.... but on the other hand saving over $1k on fees would really help not suck dry my bank account either... =(

 

[mandasand]

Closing costs suck! You have to average 5-8% of the purchase price will be for closing costs, or $5-6k. When we purchased our home, in our offer the seller accepted to pay 3% of our closing costs. But, when the house did not appraise, we had to negotiate a new offer and we lost closing cost credit. Since we had a VA loan, our lender covered a huge chunk of the fees to help us out. In the end, we were $6k out of pocket, which included the first payment into the escrow account and supplemental prop taxes. A lot of time, you don't know these fees until you go in to sign.The best advice is to save every penny. Be frugal. Moving is super expensive so don't go to crazy spending!

 

[Harpertoo]

Ugh! I hear you!
Just wait til you have a mortgage with a major bank & want to refi to lower your rate. You get to pay the same fees!
The cost of money is so cheap right now you may never encounter this scenario....and it annoys me so much we'll probably just pay off the mortgage. (It's not like I see a lot of great investment opportunities: hello Cyprus!)

 

[qtiekiki]

It sucks that your broker won't work the closing cost fees for you. Our previous broker didn't either, but our current broker covers all the fees and we refi'ed twice with him last year.

 

[pregcurious]

It sucks that your broker won't work the closing cost fees for you. Our previous broker didn't either, but our current broker covers all the fees and we refi'ed twice with him last year.

That is very unusual. From what I understand, the max commission in the US is usually 6%, split by the seller and buyer's brokers, or not split if there is only a seller's broker. Paying for the closing costs would cut substantially into the commission.

 

[kenny]

When I bought this house they threw a bunch of surprise closing costs at me on closing day.
I walked out.

They assume buyers are emotionally committed and too "nice" and polite to contest these costs.

The agent called me later and somehow they had all been deleted.
Friggin scumbags!

 

[marcy]

Our broker and realtor wouldn't budge on any fees or charges. At this point in the process you hate to start over or shop round for another broker. Good luck with getting your house.

We closed in December and I couldn't believe the costs and fees they add in. We got several copies of the final numbers after we locked in our rate and I found several errors which would have resulted in about $120 more per month in our house payment. Go over their figures with a fine tooth comb!

 

[TooPatient]

Sounds about right. Realtor fees, closing fees, broker fees, taxes, insurance, document fees, etc, etc...

We had a wonderful broker who really did a lot to help us, but the fees were still there. It was easier to negotiate fees when we did the refi though. The guy at the bank tossed most of the charges and the bank covered the rest.

Honestly, for the $1,000 in fees you mentioned, I'd just forget it and move on. Changing now would be a PITA and could actually cost you more. Could you see if they'd wrap the fees in the mortgage? That would keep it from taking your savings right now and won't make that much of a difference when you're talking mortgage sized numbers.


Congratulations on the new house!

 

[minmin001]

Thank you all for the reply. Yes at this point I will just have to bite the bullet and keep going since it took some serious hard work to get under this contract and I really am not willing to go through it all over again. Sucks but that's life =(

 

[minmin001]

When I bought this house they threw a bunch of surprise closing costs at me on closing day.
I walked out.

They assume buyers are emotionally committed and too "nice" and polite to contest these costs.

The agent called me later and somehow they had all been deleted.
Friggin scumbags!

Wow... That's so great you showed them not try to take advantage of the customer because it's at the end of the process!
I wish I can do that, but in this market they probably will just move on and even get a higher bid for the home =(

 

[Taylorbug!]

The closing cost fees are in addition to the realtors commission. And unfortunately most of the fees go to the attorney, appraiser, title company and if you have escrow you have to pay that upfront (as a cushion for the next year). You can however ask that they include your closing costs in your loan. That would make your monthly P&I payment go up, but it would help elminate you having to come up with the money up front. Hope that helps!

 

[Dee*Jay]

As some of you may know. I've been looking for a house in this crazy market for awhile now. I was finally about to go under contract for a sweet starter home (YAY!)
All my savings are going into it and yesterday my broker gave me the fee break down for the closing.
Fees from lender
Underwriting Fee $695
Wire Transfer Fee $90
Leander Doc Prep Fee $150
and the list just goes on and on.
I did little google research and people say most of those fees are negotiable since the lender is really just passing over their over head to the customer and I know for FACT that it does NOT cost $90 to wire transfer money so they are even trying to make money out of me!
What really sucks is the broker wouldn't really work on the fees with me and I'm closing soon. I don't want anything happen to this deal since it took me alot of work and alot of luck to get it.... but on the other hand saving over $1k on fees would really help not suck dry my bank account either... =(

Minmin, I'm so sorry you were surprised with the fee breakdown!

With the part in bold, do you mean that you are disappointed that your broker won't work on negotiating the fees with the bank/title company, or that he/she won't rebate the commission (or give you a break in some other way) to compensate for the amount (or at least a part of the amount)?

 

[minmin001]

The closing cost fees are in addition to the realtors commission. And unfortunately most of the fees go to the attorney, appraiser, title company and if you have escrow you have to pay that upfront (as a cushion for the next year). You can however ask that they include your closing costs in your loan. That would make your monthly P&I payment go up, but it would help elminate you having to come up with the money up front. Hope that helps!

Thank you for the advise. We have thought about it but my realtor adviced that it may work against us for the apprasial and better be safe than sorry.

 

[minmin001]

As some of you may know. I've been looking for a house in this crazy market for awhile now. I was finally about to go under contract for a sweet starter home (YAY!)
All my savings are going into it and yesterday my broker gave me the fee break down for the closing.
Fees from lender
Underwriting Fee $695
Wire Transfer Fee $90
Leander Doc Prep Fee $150
and the list just goes on and on.
I did little google research and people say most of those fees are negotiable since the lender is really just passing over their over head to the customer and I know for FACT that it does NOT cost $90 to wire transfer money so they are even trying to make money out of me!
What really sucks is the broker wouldn't really work on the fees with me and I'm closing soon. I don't want anything happen to this deal since it took me alot of work and alot of luck to get it.... but on the other hand saving over $1k on fees would really help not suck dry my bank account either... =(

Minmin, I'm so sorry you were surprised with the fee breakdown!

With the part in bold, do you mean that you are disappointed that your broker won't work on negotiating the fees with the bank/title company, or that he/she won't rebate the commission (or give you a break in some other way) to compensate for the amount (or at least a part of the amount)?

The ones I listed and some other fees are charged by lender which after searching online people says they are negotiable..
However this is the first time I've ever done a loan so I never asked for the list until she gave it to me which is too late try to shop around compare fees etc.. a lesson to be learned.

 

[Dee*Jay]

As some of you may know. I've been looking for a house in this crazy market for awhile now. I was finally about to go under contract for a sweet starter home (YAY!)
All my savings are going into it and yesterday my broker gave me the fee break down for the closing.
Fees from lender
Underwriting Fee $695
Wire Transfer Fee $90
Leander Doc Prep Fee $150
and the list just goes on and on.
I did little google research and people say most of those fees are negotiable since the lender is really just passing over their over head to the customer and I know for FACT that it does NOT cost $90 to wire transfer money so they are even trying to make money out of me!
What really sucks is the broker wouldn't really work on the fees with me and I'm closing soon. I don't want anything happen to this deal since it took me alot of work and alot of luck to get it.... but on the other hand saving over $1k on fees would really help not suck dry my bank account either... =(

Minmin, I'm so sorry you were surprised with the fee breakdown!

With the part in bold, do you mean that you are disappointed that your broker won't work on negotiating the fees with the bank/title company, or that he/she won't rebate the commission (or give you a break in some other way) to compensate for the amount (or at least a part of the amount)?

The ones I listed and some other fees are charged by lender which after searching online people says they are negotiable..
However this is the first time I've ever done a loan so I never asked for the list until she gave it to me which is too late try to shop around compare fees etc.. a lesson to be learned.

Now I understand. As a real estate agent, I can tell you that our ability to intercede between a borrower and lender can be very limited (I say that generally because I don't know where you're located or what the rules might be there). But can YOU try to negotiate with the lender at this point? If you go in in a position on knowledge and act with confidence, you may get some relief. "Hello Mr. Bank. I have been looking over the list of closing costs, and since I KNOW at many of these are negotiable, what can we work out that will be reasonable for both of us?" They may not budge, but then again, what have you go to lose? And anything you do save goes straight into the bling fund!

 

[minmin001]

As some of you may know. I've been looking for a house in this crazy market for awhile now. I was finally about to go under contract for a sweet starter home (YAY!)
All my savings are going into it and yesterday my broker gave me the fee break down for the closing.
Fees from lender
Underwriting Fee $695
Wire Transfer Fee $90
Leander Doc Prep Fee $150
and the list just goes on and on.
I did little google research and people say most of those fees are negotiable since the lender is really just passing over their over head to the customer and I know for FACT that it does NOT cost $90 to wire transfer money so they are even trying to make money out of me!
What really sucks is the broker wouldn't really work on the fees with me and I'm closing soon. I don't want anything happen to this deal since it took me alot of work and alot of luck to get it.... but on the other hand saving over $1k on fees would really help not suck dry my bank account either... =(

Minmin, I'm so sorry you were surprised with the fee breakdown!

With the part in bold, do you mean that you are disappointed that your broker won't work on negotiating the fees with the bank/title company, or that he/she won't rebate the commission (or give you a break in some other way) to compensate for the amount (or at least a part of the amount)?

The ones I listed and some other fees are charged by lender which after searching online people says they are negotiable..
However this is the first time I've ever done a loan so I never asked for the list until she gave it to me which is too late try to shop around compare fees etc.. a lesson to be learned.

Now I understand. As a real estate agent, I can tell you that our ability to intercede between a borrower and lender can be very limited (I say that generally because I don't know where you're located or what the rules might be there). But can YOU try to negotiate with the lender at this point? If you go in in a position on knowledge and act with confidence, you may get some relief. "Hello Mr. Bank. I have been looking over the list of closing costs, and since I KNOW at many of these are negotiable, what can we work out that will be reasonable for both of us?" They may not budge, but then again, what have you go to lose? And anything you do save goes straight into the bling fund!

I did ask my broker but she said it wouldn't happen unless I have a paper quote from another lender with my name and the address of the house and a list of the fees they will charge me. At this point it's too late

 

[Dee*Jay]

Awww--minmin, I'm sorry to hear this! BUT... I would still place a call to your lender, even without another quote, and at least ask. I'm not trying to tell you want to do (certainly!), but in your shoes, I would make the phone call. Without asking, the answer is always NO!

Regardless of whether you decide to call or not (and I support you either way!), I wish you a fast and easy closing and many happy years in your new home!

 

[qtiekiki]

It sucks that your broker won't work the closing cost fees for you. Our previous broker didn't either, but our current broker covers all the fees and we refi'ed twice with him last year.

That is very unusual. From what I understand, the max commission in the US is usually 6%, split by the seller and buyer's brokers, or not split if there is only a seller's broker. Paying for the closing costs would cut substantially into the commission.

From what I understand, it's that our broker gets a large kickbacks from the lender, due the volume of loans that we used the lender for. So yes, he gets less, but overall he gets more business from returned customers and referrals.