Crunching the numbers: What does it actually cost to buy a home?

Understanding the ACTUAL cost of buying a home is wicked confusing--especially if it's your first time buying a home! I remember when I was buying my first home that pinning down the numbers seemed overly complicated. Your lender should be willing to take the time to break each cost down for you--from your down payment to monthly mortgage payment to closing costs, etc. But don't just rely upon your lender for these numbers!  You can also be proactive and learn how to use a mortgage calculator. Once you know what numbers to project, you have the ability to figure out if the numbers work for you. 

There's an app for that! While Zillow isn't perfect it certainly provides home buyers and sellers with an assortment of tools to make well-informed decisions. I like Zillow's mortgage calculator tool , it's pretty easy to use and will get you close to an accurate monthly mortgage amount. I also like their mortgage calculator app for my phone to crunch quick numbers. I'm happy to sit down with you and show you how to fill in these numbers accurately so that you can fully understand the financial side of the home buying process.

First you need to know what numbers to project:

• Total Purchase Price
• Down Payment amount or Percentage (3.5%, 10%, 20% etc)
• Interest Rate
• Property Taxes (either total projected amount or tax rate)
• Projected Homeowners Insurance
• Mortgage Insurance (PMI)
• Loan term (30 yrs, 15 yrs etc)

Once you've filled in each item you will be able to see your projected Monthly Mortgage payment amount. Not sure what those numbers are that you need in order to fill in each blank? Again, I'm happy to help!

In addition to the numbers above, you can also figure out how much money you need to bring to the closing.

• Total down payment amount
• Closing costs

Your lender can tell you what you should project for the closing costs based upon the purchase price. I can help you to figure out your best "guesstimate"--depending upon the house, part of our negotiations may include a seller closing cost credit to help off-set your closing costs.  Every home and situation is different--we will work together to determine the best strategy and understanding the numbers will help us to determine the move that works best for you.

It's important to be a well informed home buyer and I am committed to making sure that I provide my clients with all of the information and current tools available to help them to make the decisions that are in line with their home buying goals and priorities.