Introduction
When you buy or sell a home, there are extra fees you need to pay on top of the price of the house. These fees are called closing costs. They include things like loan fees, title insurance, appraisal charges, taxes, and attorney fees. Closing costs usually add up to between 2% and 5% of the home's purchase price, so they can be a big deal for your budget.1
Our Closing Cost Calculator helps you estimate these fees before you get to the closing table. Just enter basic details about your home purchase, and the calculator will give you a clear breakdown of what to expect. Knowing your closing costs ahead of time helps you plan better, avoid surprises, and make sure you have enough money saved to complete the deal.
How to Use Our Closing Cost Calculator
Enter your property and loan details below, and this calculator will estimate your total closing costs, show a full fee breakdown, and display how much cash you need to complete your real estate transaction.
Mode Selection (Buyer, Seller, or Refinance): Pick the tab that matches your situation. Choose "Buyer" if you are purchasing a home, "Seller" if you are selling one, or "Refinance" if you are replacing your current mortgage with a new loan. The calculator will adjust all fields and results based on your choice.
State: Select the state where the property is located. Each state has different transfer tax rates, recording fees, and title insurance costs, so this choice directly affects your closing cost estimate.
County (Washington, Seller Mode): For a home in Washington, choose the county it is in. Together with the city or area, this sets the local real estate excise tax the seller pays.
City or Area (Washington, Seller Mode): Pick the city, or the county's unincorporated area, where the home is. Washington adds a local real estate excise tax whose rate depends on the city or area.
Home Price: Enter the purchase price or current market value of the property. This number must be between $10,000 and $100,000,000. Many closing costs, such as transfer taxes and title insurance, are calculated as a percentage of this amount.
Property Type: Select the type of property, such as single-family home, condominium, townhouse, multi-family, co-op, manufactured home, or vacant land. A condominium or co-op can carry its own fee, which you can enter under Additional Costs & Adjustments.
Purchase Type (Buyer Mode): Choose between a financed purchase or a cash purchase. If you select cash, all loan-related fields and fees will be hidden since no mortgage is involved.
Down Payment (Buyer Mode): Enter your down payment as a percentage or a dollar amount. When you change one, the other updates automatically along with the loan amount. A down payment below 20% on a conventional loan will trigger a Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) notice.
Loan Amount (Buyer Mode): This field shows how much you will borrow. It auto-fills based on the home price minus your down payment, but you can also type in a value directly and the down payment fields will adjust.
Loan Type (Buyer and Refinance Modes): Select your mortgage type: Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, or Jumbo. Each loan type has its own fees. For example, FHA loans include an upfront mortgage insurance premium, VA loans have a funding fee, and USDA loans carry a guarantee fee.
Interest Rate (Buyer and Refinance Modes): Enter the annual interest rate for your mortgage. This rate is used to calculate prepaid interest charges that are due at closing, covering the days between your closing date and the end of that month. Each day's interest is the annual rate divided by 365, the factor FHA requires.13
Closing Date (Buyer and Refinance Modes; Seller Mode in Washington): Select the date you expect to close. The calculator uses this date to figure out how many days of prepaid interest you will owe. A closing earlier in the month means more prepaid interest; a closing later in the month means less. In Seller Mode for a Washington home, the closing date decides which year's real estate excise tax brackets apply.
Credit Score Range (Buyer Mode): Choose the band your credit score falls in. If your down payment is below 20% on a conventional loan, it sets the PMI rate, read from Enact Mortgage Insurance's published rate card.18 Better credit scores pay lower PMI rates.
Additional Costs & Adjustments (Buyer Mode): Click this section to expand it and enter optional fees such as home inspection, home warranty, HOA transfer fee, survey fee, pest inspection, and any other costs. These amounts are added to your total closing cost estimate. The same section takes the credit report, escrow or settlement, title search and condo or co-op fees. Each company sets its own, so these fields start empty: until you enter one, the line shows "Not priced" and is left out of the total.
Remaining Mortgage Balance (Seller Mode): Enter the amount you still owe on your current mortgage. This balance will be subtracted from your sale price to help calculate your estimated net proceeds.
Agent Commission (Seller Mode): Enter the total real estate agent commission as a percentage. The default is 5%. This is typically one of the largest costs a seller pays at closing.
Repairs / Concessions (Seller Mode): Enter any dollar amount you expect to pay for repairs or buyer concessions that were agreed upon during the sale. Leave this at zero if none apply.
Other Seller Costs (Seller Mode): Enter any additional costs not already covered, such as attorney fees or moving expenses you want to factor into your net proceeds calculation.
New Loan Amount (Refinance Mode): Enter the total amount of your new refinance loan. Closing costs such as origination fees and title insurance are based on this number.
Credit Report, Escrow / Settlement and Title Search Fees (Seller and Refinance Modes): Enter the fees your title or escrow company and lender quote. Each starts empty; until you enter it, the line shows "Not priced" and is left out of the total.
Calculate and Reset: The calculator updates automatically as you change any input. You can also press "Calculate" to refresh results, or "Reset" to return every field to its default value. Your estimated closing costs, a detailed fee breakdown by category, a donut chart showing cost distribution, and a complete fee schedule table will all appear below.
What Are Closing Costs?
Closing costs are the fees and expenses you pay when you finalize a real estate transaction. These costs are separate from the home's price and can add up quickly. For buyers, closing costs typically range from 2% to 5% of the home's purchase price.1 Sellers usually pay between 6% and 10% when you include agent commissions. Refinancing generally costs 2% to 3% of the new loan amount.
Common Closing Costs for Buyers
When you buy a home, your closing costs fall into several categories. Lender fees include the loan origination fee (typically between 0.5% and 1% of the loan amount), the application fee, credit report fee, underwriting fee, and processing fee.2 The calculator shows them as one line, the median origination charges that borrowers in your state paid on loans of your type with no discount points, from the loan-level data lenders report under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.22 The appraisal fee is the one the Department of Veterans Affairs sets for your state,23 and the credit report, title search and settlement fees are left for you to enter, because each company sets its own. Title and escrow fees cover the owner's title insurance policy, the lender's title insurance policy, the title search, and the escrow or settlement fee. Government fees include recording fees and transfer taxes, which vary widely by state. For example, states like Texas and Idaho charge no transfer tax, while Delaware charges 4%. Washington's state rate is graduated by selling price, from 1.1% up to 3.0%, and local tax is added on top.3 In Washington the tax is the seller's obligation by law, so the calculator shows it on the seller side only.12 In every state the calculator shows each tax on the side the law makes pay it, and on both sides, marked, where the law leaves it to the contract.
Buyers also pay prepaid costs at closing. These include prepaid interest from your closing date through the end of that month, a full year of homeowners insurance, and an escrow deposit for property taxes and insurance. The calculator shows the escrow cushion, two months of taxes and insurance, the most a lender may hold as a cushion.24 Your lender also collects the taxes and insurance that fall due before your first payment, which depend on your bill dates. The calculator prices the insurance at the average homeowners premium in your state for a home of your price16 and the property tax at your state's median rate.17 You can use our Property Tax Calculator to get a more specific estimate of your annual property tax obligation. If your down payment is less than 20% on a conventional loan, you will also pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), which protects the lender if you stop making payments.
Loan Type Matters
The type of mortgage you choose affects your closing costs. FHA loans require an upfront mortgage insurance premium of 1.75% of the loan amount.4 VA loans charge a funding fee that ranges from 1.25% to 2.15% on a first-use purchase loan, depending on your down payment, and up to 3.3% after first use.5 Veterans who receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability don't pay it.5 USDA loans include an upfront guarantee fee of 1%.14 Conventional and jumbo loans do not have these government fees, but jumbo loans may carry extra lender surcharges due to the larger loan size.
Common Closing Costs for Sellers
The biggest cost for sellers is usually the real estate agent commission, which is often around 5% to 6% of the sale price and is split between the buyer's and seller's agents. Sellers often also pay for the owner's title insurance policy, the transfer taxes their state puts on the seller, the fee to record the release of their mortgage, escrow fees, and a title search. After subtracting these costs and paying off any remaining mortgage balance, the amount left over is your net proceeds, the actual money you walk away with from the sale.
Refinance Closing Costs
Refinancing replaces your current mortgage with a new one, and the closing costs look similar to what a buyer pays minus the down payment and property-related inspections. You will pay lender fees, a title search, lender's title insurance, an appraisal, recording fees, and prepaid interest. Some homeowners choose to roll these costs into the new loan balance rather than paying them out of pocket, but this means you borrow more and pay interest on those costs over time. Our Refinance Calculator can help you determine whether the interest savings from a lower rate outweigh these upfront costs.
How Location Affects Closing Costs
Where your property is located has a big impact on what you pay. Each state sets its own transfer tax rate, recording fees, and title insurance regulations. For instance, closing costs in New Hampshire or Delaware tend to be higher because of steep transfer taxes, while states like Arizona, Idaho, and Montana have no transfer tax at all. Even within a state, costs can vary by county. That is why choosing the correct state in the calculator above, and for a Washington sale the county and city, gives you a more accurate estimate.
Tips to Lower Your Closing Costs
- Shop around for lenders. Origination fees, underwriting fees, and interest rates can vary a lot between lenders.
- Negotiate with the seller. In some markets, sellers agree to pay part of the buyer's closing costs, often called seller concessions.
- Ask about lender credits. Some lenders offer to cover part of your closing costs in exchange for a slightly higher interest rate.
- Review your Loan Estimate carefully. Lenders are required to give you this document within three business days of receiving your application.6 Compare it to offers from other lenders.
- Close near the end of the month. This reduces the amount of prepaid interest you owe at closing.
What Is "Cash to Close"?
For buyers, cash to close is the total amount of money you need to bring on closing day. It includes your down payment plus all of your closing costs. This number is often much higher than people expect, so it is important to plan ahead. For example, on a $350,000 home with a 20% down payment, your down payment is $70,000 and your closing costs might be $8,000 to $15,000, meaning you could need $78,000 to $85,000 or more in available funds.