Closing Cost Calculator
Itemize every fee at a U.S. home closing and see the cash you need to bring on closing day.
About this calculator
Closing costs are the fees and prepaid expenses you pay to complete a home purchase, on top of the down payment. They usually come to 2% to 6% of the loan amount and fall into four groups: fees charged by the lender, fees for third parties such as the appraiser and title company, government recording fees and transfer taxes, and prepaid items such as interest, homeowner's insurance and the opening balance of your escrow account. This calculator itemizes each of those costs, lets you change or remove any of them, and adds them to your down payment to show the total cash you need to bring to closing.
How to use this calculator
Enter the Purchase Price and your Down Payment in dollars, or drag the Down Payment (%) slider; the calculator subtracts the down payment from the price to get the loan amount. Enter the Interest Rate your lender quotes, your estimated Annual Property Tax and Annual Homeowners Insurance, and choose the Loan Type. The Closing Date sets how many days of interest you prepay; without a date the calculator assumes 15 days. Finally, enter your Earnest Money Deposit and any Seller Concessions, since both are credited against what you owe at closing. Every result updates as you type, and the inputs, including any line items you change, are saved in the page address so you can bookmark or share a scenario.
Customizing the itemized list
Each fee in the Itemized Closing Costs panel has a checkbox, a basis and an amount. Untick a fee that your lender waives or that does not apply to you. The basis can be a flat dollar amount, a percentage of the loan, or a percentage of the purchase price, and switching basis keeps the same dollar amount so you can compare quotes in either form. Items marked Auto are calculated from your other inputs, and you can override any of them with your own figure. Use Add Custom Line Item in any group to include a fee the list does not cover, such as an HOA transfer fee or a pest inspection.
The method
Percentage items are the percentage times their base, and flat items are their dollar amount. The upfront government fee depends on the loan type: 1.75% of the loan for FHA upfront mortgage insurance, 1% for the USDA guarantee fee, and for a first-use VA loan 2.15% with less than 5% down, 1.5% with 5% to 10% down and 1.25% with 10% or more. Conventional loans have no upfront government fee. Prepaid interest is the loan amount times the annual rate, divided by 365 and multiplied by the days from the closing day through the end of that month. The prepaids also include one full year of homeowner's insurance, plus an escrow cushion of 3 months of property tax and 2 months of insurance. Total closing costs are the sum of every ticked item. Cash to close is the down payment plus total closing costs, minus the earnest money already paid and the seller credits. Seller credits are limited to the closing costs, because a seller cannot pay part of your down payment.
Worked example using the default values
A $400,000 home with $80,000 down leaves a $320,000 conventional loan at 7.0%. Lender fees are a 1% origination fee of $3,200, a $750 underwriting fee and a $50 credit report, for $4,000. Third-party and title fees come to $5,950, including $1,600 for the lender's title policy at 0.5% of the loan and $2,000 for the owner's policy at 0.5% of the price. Government fees are $150 for recording plus $1,600 of transfer tax at 0.4% of the price, for $1,750. Daily interest on the loan is about $61.37, so 15 days of prepaid interest is $920.55; with $1,800 of insurance, a $1,200 tax cushion and a $300 insurance cushion, prepaids total $4,220.55. Total closing costs are $15,920.55, or 4.98% of the loan. Adding the $80,000 down payment and subtracting the $5,000 earnest money gives $90,920.55 cash to close.
Interpreting the results
The Cash to Close figure is the amount to have ready as a wire or certified check before closing day. The Closing Costs Ratio makes quotes comparable across loan sizes; a figure well above 5% is worth questioning line by line. The breakdown bar shows how much of the money is down payment, which builds equity, and how much goes to fees and prepaids. Prepaids are not really fees: they pay for interest, insurance and taxes you would owe anyway, only earlier.
Practical tips
Compare the lender fees on the Loan Estimate from at least two or three lenders, since origination, underwriting and points vary most between lenders. You can usually shop for the title company and settlement agent. Closing near the end of the month reduces prepaid interest but does not lower the total cost of the loan, because the first mortgage payment comes later when you close early in the month. Ask the seller for concessions in a buyer's market, and check your loan program's limit on them.
Limitations
Default fees are typical U.S. figures, not quotes. Transfer tax rates, title insurance pricing, who pays which fee, and escrow requirements differ widely by state and county, and some states have no transfer tax at all. The calculator does not include monthly mortgage insurance, HOA dues paid at closing, or the effect of financing an FHA, VA or USDA upfront fee into the loan; if you finance that fee, untick it. Results are estimates for planning, not a loan offer; your lender's Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure show the exact figures.
Frequently Asked Questions
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