What are the average closing costs for a buyer?

by Rudden|Bobruska Team 03/31/2024

When preparing for a new home purchase, it’s crucial to plan for the average closing costs for buyer hopefuls on a budget. Closing costs are made up of various service charges associated with the entire home buying process, including appraisals and title paperwork. Because closing costs can add up to thousands of dollars, it’s helpful to prepare for the expense.

Here are some of the most common types of closing costs associated with buying a new home:

Appraisal fee

Appraisal fees cover the cost of a professional home appraisal to determine the value of the property. This cost can depend on the size of your home, but generally comes to somewhere between $300 and $400.

Home inspection fee

Professional home inspection fees usually cost a few hundred dollars. While inspections are technically an optional part of the home buying process, most buyers require them to find out if there are any major issues with a home before buying.

Loan origination fee

Mortgage lenders can charge an origination fee for creating the loan itself. This closing cost can vary from one lender to the next, but frequently comes to around 1% of the amount of the mortgage loan.

Title search

The title for your new home needs to be examined for any possible issues such as tax liens. The fee for a title search is typically between $400 and $500 paid to your mortgage lender.

Title insurance

Title insurance is required by lenders to cover the cost of any issues discovered with the property title. Similar to mortgage insurance, this policy protects the lender rather than the buyer. Title insurance often costs around 1% of the total loan amount.

These are not all the possible closing costs for buyers to prepare for. However, these are the most commonly associated with your new home. Inquire with your mortgage lender for more information about additional fees to prepare your budget accordingly.

About the Author
Author

Rudden|Bobruska Team

Gary Rudden, Lisa Rudden, and Nick Bobruska  

RUDDEN BOBRUSKA TEAM

What sets your team apart from other real estate teams?

There is no team out in the market that offers what we do. All of us are Realtors, but

we each have specialized roles, which make our team so unique!

After decades of living and selling real estate in the DMV, we have established

ourselves as one of the top real estate teams with our market expertise and

cutting-edge technology. Our savvy high-tech marketing is on every website

and social media source. We have a huge network with other top agents, which

helps to premarket homes and discover homes for buyers before they reach the

open market. Our services include professional in-house staging services, broker

expertise in negotiating and navigating contracts, and buyer representation in all

price ranges. Each client has different needs and we create a marketing plan based

on those needs.

Our most distinct feature is our in-house construction and renovation team. We

are literally a full-service, one-stop shop when selling or buying a home!

How does the in-house construction and renovation team work?

All work is managed and completed through our licensed and bonded construction

crew. No need to call outside contractors. We are like “HGTV,” but we just don’t

have a show! Whether it’s a small makeover or a major renovation, we do it all. Our

sellers love this aspect of our team because we make preparing your home for the

market so seamless. Our buyers love the advice and insight we can give for future

renovations and repairs.

Having a licensed Maryland Home Improvement contractor as part of our team

along with the knowledge, experience, commitment and services that we offer, truly

puts our team as a vanguard in the real estate industry.