Closing Cost Calculator

• Estimates total cash to close, not just “closing costs”.
• Groups every cost the way your Loan Estimate does (sections A to H), so the two are easy to compare.
• Separates true fees from prepaids and escrow, which are your own money set aside.
• Includes a Virginia option that calculates state and local recordation taxes on the deed and deed of trust.

How to use this calculator

Enter the price, down payment, interest rate, annual property tax and insurance, and choose how transfer and recording taxes are handled. The defaults are typical values; replace them with the numbers from your lender's Loan Estimate as soon as you have one. Open Advanced for points, individual fees, prepaid and escrow months, a buyer's agent fee, credits and earnest money.

How cash to close is calculated

Loan amount = price − down payment
Closing costs = A origination (fee + points + lender fees) + B appraisal
              + C title, settlement, inspection, survey + E taxes and recording + H other
Prepaids and escrow = F (prepaid interest + first-year insurance) + G (initial escrow deposit)
Cash to close = down payment + closing costs + prepaids and escrow − credits − earnest money

Prepaid interest is loan × rate ÷ 365 × days from closing to month-end. The initial escrow deposit is a few months of property tax and insurance so your lender's escrow account starts with a cushion.

Virginia: buyers customarily pay the state recordation tax on the deed (Code of Virginia § 58.1-801) and on the deed of trust (§ 58.1-803), each 25 cents per $100, plus a local recordation tax that cities and counties may charge at up to one-third of the state rate. The seller pays the separate grantor tax.

A worked example

A $400,000 home with 20% down needs a $320,000 loan. Using the default typical fees (1% origination, $900 of lender fees, $650 appraisal, 0.6% title and settlement, $800 inspection and survey, 0.2% transfer tax and $150 recording), closing costs come to about $8,900, or 2.2% of the price. Prepaids and escrow add another $4,121: 15 days of interest at 7% ($921), a year of insurance ($1,800) and a starting escrow deposit ($1,400). With the $80,000 down payment, cash to close is about $93,021.

With the Virginia option, recordation taxes are about $1,333 on the deed and $1,067 on the deed of trust, $2,400 in total, which raises closing costs to about $10,500 and cash to close to about $94,621.

Ways to lower your cash to close

Shop the section C services (title, settlement, inspection) and compare two or three Loan Estimates. Ask the seller for a credit toward closing costs, especially in a slower market. Close near the end of the month so fewer days of prepaid interest are due at closing. Avoid paying for points unless you'll keep the loan long enough to break even. And look for state and local first-time buyer programs that cover closing costs.

Assumptions and limitations

• Default fees are typical round numbers, not quotes; title, settlement and transfer taxes vary a great deal by state and county.
• Mortgage insurance premiums, HOA dues and reserves a lender may require are not included unless you add them under Other.
• Seller and lender credits are assumed to be usable in full, up to your actual costs.
• Does not estimate the seller's costs; use the Seller Net Proceeds Calculator for that side.

Common mistakes

Budgeting only for the down payment. Comparing lenders on rate alone when their fees differ by thousands. Treating prepaids and escrow as fees you can negotiate away (they're your own interest, insurance and tax paid in advance). And wiring closing funds from instructions in an email you didn't verify by phone: wire fraud targets home buyers at exactly this step.

Frequently asked questions