Closing
costs or settlement costs are an accumulation of separate charges paid to
different entities for the professional services associated with the
buying and selling of real estate.
Some
of the items associated with closing costs are:
Title
Insurance Premium. Fee paid by an individual to insure he
has a marketable title or - in the case of a lender - to insure their
lien position.
Real
Estate Commission. Fee paid to a real estate company for
services rendered in listing, showing, selling and consummating the
transfer of property.
Transfer
and Assumption Charges. Fees charged by a lender to allow a
new purchaser to assume an existing loan.
Recording
Fees. Fees assessed by a county recorder's office for
recording the documents of a real estate transaction.
Loan
Fees. Fees charged by a lender in connection with the
processing of a new loan. These may include points, origination
fee and credit report.
Escrow
Fees. Fees charged by a title and/or escrow company for
services rendered in preparing documents necessary in consummation of
a real estate transaction.
An
agent will be happy to review the above and other closing costs with you
and explain them before you finalize your transaction and take ownership
of your property.
Title
Insurance
Just
how much is the title insurance going to cost you? Not as much as
you probably think. Only a small percentage of closing fees are
actually for title insurance protection. Title insurance is less
than 1 percent of the purchase price of your property.
