Bringing cash to the table..

[Hevj1119]

We're scheduled to close in 2 weeks...  our realtor is in Vegas for the next week and our lender thinks we're high maintenance and wants us to leave him alone while the loans in UW.  

I'm thinking ahead and trying to get a rough idea of finances.  There are so many 'hidden costs' to buying a home that our realtor didn't tell us about.  FOR EXAMPLE - when we sat down to write the contract, we were completely unaware that she'd want earnest money then and there.  We don't have a check book (we have a checking account, but we pay all of our bills online or through BillPay) so when she "casually" mentioned we could write a check, we had 11 minutes to get to the bank for a cashiers check.  

We were blind sided by the fact we had to spend almost 2K in inspections and for the appraisal.  I didn't realize it was a cash-up-front thing.  We're first time buyers here, and as much as I like our agent and LO I feel like we're being treated like experienced investors.

So - our deal with the sellers is that they pay 100% of our closing costs up to 8.5K.  This, according to the good faith estimate, was more than enough to cover actual closing costs.

My question is - on closing day - what can we expect to have to pay for?    What hidden fees aren't rolled into closing, like "tipping the title guy" etc etc?  

[Genkeim]

Welcome to the club! We're first timers also and got hit with the same things.

Oh yeah need earnest money now.

Oh yeah you have to do inspection and pay for it now.

Oh yeah sellers pay for appraisal at closing, but you still need to pay for it now and you'll get it back then

Due to a multitude of screwed up things (app was submitted on June 6th and we're still waiting to clear underwriters. We just got all of our conditions paperwork in this week) we're going to have to pay for a 30day interest lock extension (locked at 4.25%, market was 4.625%) and at least that is paid at closing!

[Hevj1119]

Well I am glad I'm not the only one feeling a bit silly that the money we've worked so hard to use to buy a house would be nearly depleted before we even got to the down payment part of things

I exaggerate, but still.  

Sorry to hear about your extension fee  

We have about 15K in savings, going 0% down through USDA..  I just want to get a handle on how much of that 15K is going to be left after we get the keys.  I expected have 18K but then there was the "oh yeahs"   I wonder if our sellers have to pay the appraisal and if so, will we walk away from the closing table with a check made out to us for our earnest money and appraisal.

[K_J]

Your title company will provide you the HUD once which tell you how much you should cover if there's any. you should have this few days to closing.

[sugspc1]

All the extras upfront is very common. We are first time home buyer and I knew about the earnest money. Wasn't sure what else was suppose to be paid out of pocket. We are going USDA and our sellers were suppose to pay 100% closing fee's. According to USDA  max seller concessions allowed is 3% of the sales price.  We didn't want to pay out of pocket the extra money at closing so we went for a higher interest rate to cover. From 3.8% to 4.0%. Still a low rate in my book.

 Luckly the termite and septic inspections were covered by the sellers since they didn't have to pay the full amount of closing fees we agreed to before.  We have only paid $1650 out of pocket. We had a family friend do our inspection and gave us a good deal. You will get your earnest money back at closing. I know we have to also pay HOA fees as well at closing. 

[Hevj1119]

Thank you so much  We won't have HOA fees, but we were told by the lender that we could ask for 6% of the price covered in closing costs.  That was on the spot as we were writing the contract, right after our agent told us the max was 3%

I am just so pessimistic about the concept of getting our earnest money back in cash.  I cant imagine getting a check for the earnest money and the keys handed to us.  I'm sure they'll find some thing or other to "apply" it to.

[Genkeim]

We're going USDA as well, we offered asking price on the house and $4k toward closing.