Don’t Feel Like a Chump When You Close on Your New Mortgage

Don’t Feel Like a Chump When You Close on Your New Mortgage

iStockphoto
By Beth Braverman

Mortgage closing costs dropped 7 percent over the past year, falling to $1,847 on a $200,000 loan, according to a new analysis by Bankrate.

Typical closing costs varied by state, ranging from $2,163 in Hawaii to $1,613 in Ohio. You can find the average rate for your state in the table below.

Lenders compete for business, so shopping around with at least three mortgage providers can help you reduce the fees associated with your loan. “Homebuyers have more say over closing costs than they think,” Bankrate Senior Mortgage Analyst Holden Lewis said in a statement.

Even as banks lower their mortgage fees, they’re increasing fees in most other categories, according to MoneyRates.com.

While lower mortgage fees are good news for homebuyers and those refinancing their loans, the average saving amount to just $140. That’s not much relative to the total costs associated with buying a house. The average down payment for homebuyers in the first quarter of 2015 was $57,710, for example.

Related: Want Your Own Home? Here’s How to Do the Math

The costs don’t stop once the buyers move in. On top of mortgage payments, homeowners face an average of more than $6,000 in additional costs related to their house, including homeowners insurance, property taxes and utilities.

The National Association of Realtors expects home prices to increase 6.5 percent this year to a median $221,900, which would put them at the same level as their 2006 record high.

For buyers, better news than the lower mortgage fees is that rates remain relatively low, falling to 3.98 percent last week, per Freddie Mac.

Closing costs

StateAverage origination feesAverage third-party feesAverage origination plus third-party fees
Alabama $1,066 $776 $1,842
Alaska $935 $922 $1,857
Arizona $1,208 $761 $1,969
Arkansas $1,057 $760 $1,817
California $937 $896 $1,834
Colorado $1,192 $719 $1,910
Connecticut $1,074 $960 $2,033
Delaware $904 $924 $1,828
District of Columbia $1,077 $718 $1,794
Florida $1,028 $778 $1,806
Georgia $1,058 $821 $1,879
Hawaii $1,033 $1,130 $2,163
Idaho $894 $788 $1,682
Illinois $1,080 $767 $1,847
Indiana $1,067 $770 $1,837
Iowa $1,161 $762 $1,923
Kansas $1,047 $753 $1,800
Kentucky $1,060 $737 $1,797
Louisiana $1,060 $817 $1,877
Maine $897 $830 $1,727
Maryland $1,093 $742 $1,835
Massachusetts $905 $851 $1,756
Michigan $1,072 $746 $1,818
Minnesota $1,067 $689 $1,757
Mississippi $1,046 $837 $1,884
Missouri $1,040 $792 $1,833
Montana $1,062 $855 $1,917
Nebraska $1,047 $770 $1,817
Nevada $1,002 $848 $1,850
New Hampshire $1,084 $750 $1,835
New Jersey $1,181 $913 $2,094
New Mexico $1,076 $876 $1,952
New York $1,032 $879 $1,911
North Carolina $1,036 $875 $1,911
North Dakota $1,045 $791 $1,836
Ohio $933 $681 $1,613
Oklahoma $1,027 $734 $1,761
Oregon $1,080 $785 $1,864
Pennsylvania $1,055 $678 $1,733
Rhode Island $1,093 $802 $1,896
South Carolina $1,058 $837 $1,895
South Dakota $1,055 $704 $1,759
Tennessee $1,033 $773 $1,806
Texas $1,031 $833 $1,864
Utah $909 $788 $1,697
Vermont $1,074 $862 $1,936
Virginia $1,050 $787 $1,837
Washington $1,077 $824 $1,901
West Virginia $1,067 $904 $1,971
Wisconsin $1,047 $723 $1,770
Wyoming $874 $814 $1,689
       
Average $1,041 $807 $1,847

Bankrate.com surveyed up to 10 lenders in each state in June 2015 and obtained online Good Faith Estimates for a $200,000 mortgage to buy a single-family home with a 20 percent down payment in a prominent city. Costs include fees charged by lenders, as well as third-party fees for services such as appraisals and credit reports. The survey excludes title insurance, title search, taxes, property insurance, association fees, interest and other prepaid items.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:

It’s Official: No Government Shutdown – for Now

iStockphoto/The Fiscal Times
By The Fiscal Times Staff

President Trump signed a short-term continuing resolution today to fund the federal government through Friday, December 22.

Bloomberg called the maneuver “a monumental piece of can kicking,” which is no doubt the case, but at least you’ll be able to visit your favorite national park over the weekend.

Here's to small victories!

Greenspan Has a Warning About the GOP Tax Plan

Alan Greenspan
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
By Michael Rainey

The Republican tax cuts won’t do much for economic growth, former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan told CNBC Wednesday, but they will damage the country’s fiscal situation while creating the threat of stagflation. "This is a terrible fiscal situation we've got ourselves into," Greenspan said. "The administration is doing tax cuts and a spending decrease, but he's doing them in the wrong order. What we need right now is to focus totally on reducing the debt."

The US Economy Hits a Sweet Spot

iStockphoto
By The Fiscal Times Staff

“The U.S. economy is running at its full potential for the first time in a decade, a new milestone for an expansion now in its ninth year,” The Wall Street Journal reports. But the milestone was reached, in part, because the Congressional Budget Office has, over the last 10 years, downgraded its estimate of the economy’s potential output. “Some economists think more slack remains in the job market than October’s 4.1% unemployment rate would suggest. Also, economic output is still well below its potential level based on estimates produced a decade ago by the CBO.”

The New York Times Drums Up Opposition to the Tax Bill

FILE PHOTO: People line up for taxi across the street from the New York Times head office in New York
Carlo Allegri
By The Fiscal Times Staff

The New York Times editorial board took to Twitter Wednesday “to urge the Senate to reject a tax bill that hurts the middle class & the nation's fiscal health.”

Using the hashtag #thetaxbillshurts, the NYT Opinion account posted phone numbers for Sens. Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, James Lankford, John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Jerry Moran. It urged readers to call the senators and encourage them to oppose the bill.

In an editorial published Tuesday night, the Times wrote that “Republican senators have a choice. They can follow the will of their donors and vote to take money from the middle class and give it to the wealthiest people in the world. Or they can vote no, to protect the public and the financial health of the government.”

Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter.

Can Trump Succeed Where Mnuchin and Cohn Have Flopped?

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin smiles during the 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington
REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
By The Fiscal Times Staff

President Trump met with members of the Senate Finance Committee Monday and is scheduled to attend Senate Republicans’ weekly policy lunch and make a personal push for the tax plan on Tuesday. Will he be a more effective salesman than surrogates in his administration?

Politico’s Annie Karni and Eliana Johnson report that both Democrats and Republicans say Mnuchin and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn have repeatedly botched their tax pitches, “in part due to their own backgrounds” as wealthy Goldman Sachs alums. “House Speaker Paul Ryan earlier this month asked the White House not to send Mnuchin to the Hill to talk with Republican lawmakers about the bill, according to two people familiar with the discussions — though Ryan has praised the Treasury secretary’s ability to improve the legislation itself,” Karni and Johnson write.