Then, three days before closing, your lender emails a document with a number that makes your stomach drop: $11,400 due at signing.
That figure is closing costs, and for most buyers they arrive as a genuine surprise.
Here's what's actually in that bill, and where you can push back.
Closing costs typically run 2% to 6% of the loan amount, according to long-standing industry estimates.
On a $400,000 mortgage, that's $8,000 to $24,000 — real money that does not go toward your down payment and does not build a single dollar of equity.
It pays other people for the paperwork of moving a house from one name to another.
The biggest line items are lender fees and title services.
You'll see an origination fee, an appraisal (usually $500 to $800), a credit report fee, and title search and title insurance, which protects the lender if someone later claims an ownership stake.
Add prepaid items: the first year of homeowners insurance, plus property taxes and interest funded into escrow.
Recording fees, transfer taxes, and in some states, a mortgage tax.
These vary wildly by location, which is why a buyer in one county can pay thousands more than a neighbor in the next one for an identical loan.
Lenders are required to give you a Loan Estimate within three business days of your application, and a Closing Disclosure at least three business days before closing.
Some costs are negotiable and some aren't.
Recording fees and transfer taxes are set by local government — no one is cutting you a deal.
But lender fees, title insurance, and closing services are competitive products.
You can often shop title insurance on your own, and in many cases you're legally allowed to choose your own provider rather than the one your agent suggests.
That last point matters, because your real estate agent may have a financial relationship with the title company they recommend.
It's not automatically improper, but it's worth asking directly: do you or your brokerage get any compensation from this referral?
The answer tells you how much weight to give the recommendation.
Seller concessions are the most underused tool in this whole process.
In a slower market, buyers routinely ask sellers to cover a few thousand dollars of closing costs instead of shaving the purchase price.
Sellers often prefer it, because it doesn't lower the comparable sales their neighbors will see.
Your agent may not bring it up unless you do.
One more trap: your final number can change if you close late.
Every day past the agreed date can add per-diem interest and fees, and if your rate lock expires, the rate itself can move.
Get the closing date locked down and confirm the lock period in writing.
Also budget for the costs that don't appear on the disclosure at all — movers, utility deposits, a locksmith, and the first round of repairs you'll inevitably find.
Those aren't closing costs, but they hit the same bank account in the same week.
The honest take: closing costs are mostly real work performed by real people, not pure profit.
The industry benefits when buyers treat that final number as fixed and inevitable, because nobody has to justify it.
Final Thoughts
Get the paperwork early, question every fee that moved, and ask the seller to share the load.