How to Cut Closing Cost when Buying a Home
Negotiate the price of the home., Negotiate who pays the closing costs.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Negotiate the price of the home.
Buying a house is a series of negotiations, the first of which is with the seller.
Negotiating a purchase price for the home that you can afford will go a long way to helping you reduce your closing costs, since many of the closing costs are associated with the purchase price of the home.
Keep your closing costs in mind when you settle on a final purchase price—a couple of thousand dollars may not seem like much when you are purchasing a hundred-thousand dollar home, but it may mean the difference between manageable closing costs and an amount that you cannot afford. -
Step 2: Negotiate who pays the closing costs.
Besides negotiating the purchase price, you can also negotiate to have the seller pay all or a portion of your closing costs.
It may sound strange, but often a seller will be willing to “pay” a buyer to finalize the sale.
A seller paying the buyer’s closing costs means that the buyer has more incentive to close the deal on the home, which benefits the seller because they get paid the purchase price sooner.
Note that by asking the seller to pay your closing costs, you are essentially lowering the purchase price of the home, so keep that in mind when negotiating the purchase price of the home.
Detailed Guide
Buying a house is a series of negotiations, the first of which is with the seller.
Negotiating a purchase price for the home that you can afford will go a long way to helping you reduce your closing costs, since many of the closing costs are associated with the purchase price of the home.
Keep your closing costs in mind when you settle on a final purchase price—a couple of thousand dollars may not seem like much when you are purchasing a hundred-thousand dollar home, but it may mean the difference between manageable closing costs and an amount that you cannot afford.
Besides negotiating the purchase price, you can also negotiate to have the seller pay all or a portion of your closing costs.
It may sound strange, but often a seller will be willing to “pay” a buyer to finalize the sale.
A seller paying the buyer’s closing costs means that the buyer has more incentive to close the deal on the home, which benefits the seller because they get paid the purchase price sooner.
Note that by asking the seller to pay your closing costs, you are essentially lowering the purchase price of the home, so keep that in mind when negotiating the purchase price of the home.
About the Author
Brandon Reed
Enthusiastic about teaching DIY projects techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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