I’ll reprint the entire question: “I am the seller and will be paying closing costs for the buyer. On our contract with our agent she showed up to $17,000 in closing costs. We have learned that closing costs are now less that that amount. My question is - does the buyer get to keep the [...]

Closing costs are fees paid up front when you get a mortgage. These are fees like origination, appraisal, title, discount, recording, underwriting, processing, etc. At application, you can find all of your closing costs on your Good Faith Estimate. At closing, they will be on the HUD1 closing statement. Closing Costs Mortgages Hopefully, your closing [...]

Mortgage reserves are assets you have but do not use for closing costs or down payment. Reserves can turn a denial into an approval since the automated underwriting computer loves reserves. The amount of reserves is determined by the automated underwriting and because of the mortgage crisis; reserves have become even more important to mortgage [...]

A junk fee is a fee that is charged to the borrower but serves no purpose other than to increase the revenue to the originator. There is quite a bit of confusion on legitimate fees and junk fees on the Good Faith Estimate but more often than not, fees are not junk. Junk fees mortgage [...]

Escrows are money placed in an account so the taxes and insurance can be paid. Escrows are paid at closing and in your mortgage payment each month. For a real estate transaction, an escrow is when money is placed with a third party in an account until both parties execute the agreement. But we are [...]

A seller contribution is money paid by the seller for closing costs or a down payment that is normally paid by the buyer. Different loan programs have different restrictions on how much the seller can contribute and for what. Seller Contribution Defined For example, on a conforming loan you put 5% down so the seller [...]