I need help with figuring out closing costs!?

Question

I am a first time home buyer, and am closing on my house Friday. I need to know about how much I should expect to bring (not including the down payment). I do not know what my closing costs will be like other than needing 6 months worth of property taxes and 2 months worth of homeowner's insurance for escrow. Is there a percentage of the selling price I should anticipate? How about government fees, title fees, etc...

Other random information, the house is in Northern IL, we bought it for $285,000, and have already put $10,000 in earnest money....

Any advice/insight is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Talk to your real estate agent or title company. They should be able to give you an apporximation. If they're anything like our title company, we didn't get an exact number until the morning of closing.

Answer 2

it is on your Good Faith Estimate you recieved also call your mortgage person and ask them

Answer 3

The additional 2 months are standard, and are referred to as "Reserves".  

RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) says that you have a right to see, upon request, your settlement statement, also called a HUD-1, at least 24 hours prior to settlement.

Also relevant:

Your lender is required by law to give you a new Truth-In-Lending statement as well as a new Good Faith Estimate anytime that either of those two documents changes by as little as 1/8th of 1%.  Your lender, under federal law, has three business days to do this.  It's called "redisclosure".

In other words, if you lender is doing his/her job, you should already have a fairly accurate idea of what your closing costs will be, within a few hundred dollars perhaps.  

Ask your lender to do his job the way he is supposed to, and you should be fine.

Answer 4

talk with your lender and/or the settlement company (and your realtor)

YOu will need to bring a cerified check (no personal checks).  call them and they will give you a figure.

PS.  Your first payment will be on September 1.

Answer 5

You need to speak with your lender or the title company. They should be able to let you know what you need to bring. We had to bring the paid insurance policy for the entire year to closing so I'm a little surprised they are only asking for 2 months.

EDIT: Contrary to another poster - 2 months is NOT standard. The full year is standard. I just called my lender - Wells Fargo Bank.