Cash To Close — the final money required in-hand at loan consummation. Borrower-to-Seller comparison, line-by-line (if there is a seller in this transaction.) If there is no Seller, a Payoffs and Payments table may be provided instead. This comparison, and the notes, should assist in understanding how the final transaction compares to the original Loan Estimate.

The Loan Disclosure form you will receive (at least 3 days before loan consummation) provides the costs and terms of the loan arrangement. Heres what you can expect on Page 2 of this standard form: Page 2, Section A figures SHOULD match your original Loan Estimate form. These figures include: Discount Points, if applicable. Origination Charges (collected by your lender) Origination Fees (fees paid to loan brokers, loan officers or similar parties) Page 2, Section B figures should be WITHIN 10% of the total from your Loan Estimate. These figures are the services that borrowers CANNOT shop; the lender supplied a list of the parties required for these services. Page 2, Section C figures may vary from the Loan Estimate. Charges from providers on the lenders provided list should be within 10% of the Loan Estimate. Others should be as you arranged with those external providers. Page 2, Section E figures should be within 10% of the matching Loan Estimate figures. Page 2, Sections E-F-G-H figures may vary from the matching Loan Estimate figures. Page 2 also includes a break-out of the costs paid at or before loan consummation: Costs YOU will pay. Costs the SELLER will pay. Costs paid by any others. Credits (if any) from the Lender

The Loan Disclosure details the final costs and terms of the loan arrangement. The form and details are set by regulation; heres what you can expect on Page 1. Loan Amount. The total sum you are borrowing. Interest Rate. The % paid to borrow, not including fees. Terms of balloon payment (if there is one). Terms of pre-payment penalties, if applicable. Projected Payments over the life of the loan, including: Principal & Interets Mortgage Insurance Estimates of Escrow Payments, which usually do change over time. Closing Costs – details of expenses required to close the loan. Cash To Close This form must be provided at least 3 business days before loan consummation.

Regulations require lenders to document the final terms of the loan, and to deliver the document – called the Closing Disclosure – at least 3 business days before scheduled loan consummation. The Closing Disclosure cannot be verbal; it must be a digital or paper document. Any changes after deliver of the Closing Disclosure start the clock again: a new Closing Disclosure must be delivered, at least 3 business days before a revised loan consummation date. In a few circumstances, waiver of the 3-day waiting period is possible, but only when this waiting period would trigger an authentic financial emergency.

The Loan Estimate form addresses one of the big questions for closing: approximately how much cash will be required? Its an estimate, not a final total; heres a short list of the costs that might change, and by how much. Section A - Origination Charges should be the same amount at closing. Section B - Services that you cant shop. Closing amounts should be within 10% of the estimate. Section C - Services you CAN shop. For service providers on the list provided by the lender, the 10% tolerance limit applies. Other service providers arent bound by the estimate, but it does provide some guidance and point of negotiation for these decisions. Section E - The Recording Fees should be within 10% of the estimate. Section F, G, and H: Prepaids, Initial Escrow, and Other may vary from the estimate. Tolerance limits do not apply. These Loan Estimate figures and tolerances, plus basic loan details, Deposit Credits, Adjustments and Down Payment should serve to compute your money-on-hand requirements at closing. When assessing or comparing loans, keep these figures, ranges and tolerance limits in mind.

Mortgage transactions involve taxes, escrow funding and some pre-payments. These costs should be considered in mortgage decisions. They include: Escrow funding, which is frequently required. Escrow funding covers future annual charges such as property taxes, homeowners insurance and mortgage insurance. Recording fees, which government agencies charge for keeping records defining legal ownership. Transfer taxes, which may be levied by municipalities, counties and states for handling the transfer of ownership records. Prepayments, which can include: Homeowners insurance premiums Mortgage insurance (if required) Property taxes for some months, in advance Prepaid interest, for the period from closing to 1st mortgage payment. These costs can vary between Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure. Ask your lender about the tolerance rules, or watch related videos here.

The mortgage Loan Estimate includes two lists of services involved in the loan process: services you CAN shop, and services you CANNOT shop. Borrowers are free to shop and compare the first list; they may have the lender provide these services, or another part. Borrowers MUST use the lender or listed provider for services on the other list. The CAN shop list might include the following: Pest Inspection Property-Line Survey Title-related services. These might be broken down further: Lenders title policy, protecting the lenders interest in the collateral (usually, the property.) Settlement agent fees, to cover the costs of facilitating the final transaction. Title Search, to document legal ownership of the property. Title Insurance Binder, which allows use of the title search results for a period of time. Fees from providers on the list provided by the lenders are restricted by the Loan Estimate figures; their fees cannot change by more than 10% between estimate and closing disclosure. Providers not on the list are not restricted by the Loan Estimate; the lender is not responsible for changes in their fees or variances from the estimate.

The mortgage Loan Estimate includes two lists of services involved in the loan process: services you CANNOT shop, and services you CAN shop. See the other video in this series on "can shop." The Cannot Shop list covers fees and costs for outside parties (not the lender themselves). This list may include: Tax status research on the property Tax monitoring on property-tax payments Appraisal, which gives the lender a reliable value for the property Credit Reporting on the borrower. Flood Risk fees Flood Zone Monitoring Fees for these services in the Loan Estimate and in the final Loan Disclosure must match. There is ZERO tolerance for change on these items under lender compliance regulations.

This video explains the Loan Costs section of the mortgage Loan Estimate form. Key terms for which figures are provided include: Closing Costs: the set of fees involved in transferring title of the property to the buyer. Origination Charges: fees the lender collects for the mortgage process. These may include fees for handling the application itself, as well as "Origination Fees" — paid by the lender to a party that originates your loan, such as a mortgage broker. Points: essentially, a form of prepaid interest. Points are paid at time of the loan to lower the interest rate of the loan. Points may be tax deductible. Underwriting: fees charged by the lender to evaluate loan risks, based on the transaction and the borrowers financial attributes. The Loan Costs section is usually found on Page 2 of the Loan Estimate.

Lenders provide a Loan Estimate form within 3 business days of application for an approved loan. This form documents the terms, projected payment, costs and other details. These definitions may be helpful in interpretation: Loan Amount: total dollars borrowed, which is not the same as total borrowing cost. Interest Rate: cost you will pay each year to borrow, converted to a percentage rate. Not quite the same thing as: APR (Annual Percentage Rate): this includes interest rate, points (if used), mortgage broker fees, and other charges you pay to get the loan. Monthly Principal & Interest: payment amounts that go to reducing loan principal, and to paying interest, each month. (Mortgage insurance and escrow payments are not included here.) Projected Payments: approximate payment amounts over the years, with the major components such as principal, interest, mortgage insurance, escrow and assessment broken out. Estimated Closing Costs: specific costs to close, detailed. These are directly loan-related costs. Estimated Cash to Close: sum of estimate, plus any other known costs, to provide the total cash needed at loan close.