Real estate & rental
Closing Cost Calculator
Totals closing costs on either side, where local practice decides who pays what.
Result
Who pays which closing cost is set by state law and local custom, not by a national rule, so the split here is whatever you enter. Your loan estimate and closing disclosure are the authoritative figures for an actual transaction; this is for working out roughly what to have ready. Transfer tax and owner's title insurance are broken out with a payer selector because they are the two items people most often get wrong when estimating: both are large, and which side pays them is a matter of state law and local custom rather than negotiation in most places. The seller side is dominated by commission, which is why the two sides rarely come out close to equal.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Each charge assigned to the party who pays it, with lender charges, third-party services, prepaids and escrows, transfer taxes, title and settlement charges, and prorations, totalled per side. Which side pays several of the larger items is a matter of local custom and contract rather than law, which is why the allocation has to be set rather than assumed.
What moves the number
- Which party pays transfer tax and owner's title insurance.
- Lender charges, which fall on the buyer.
- Prepaids and escrows, which are buyer items.
- Prorations, which depend on local billing convention.
Where this one goes wrong
Transfer tax and owner's title insurance are the two items whose allocation varies most between localities, and either can be substantial, so an estimate built on the wrong assumption is wrong by a meaningful amount. Set them explicitly from local practice or from the contract. Prepaids and escrows should also be separated from fees in any comparison, since they represent money for obligations you already have rather than a cost of transacting.
Before you quote
- Set the transfer tax and title insurance allocation explicitly.
- Separate prepaids and escrows from genuine fees.
- Confirm the proration convention for the locality.
Where the rules come from
Questions
About this calculator
Who pays which closing costs?
Several of the larger items, particularly transfer tax and owner's title insurance, follow local custom and the contract rather than law. Either can be substantial, so an estimate built on the wrong assumption is off by a meaningful amount.
Are prepaids a cost of closing?
Not in the same sense. Prepaid interest, the first insurance premium and escrow deposits are money for obligations you already have, paid early. Separating them from genuine fees is what makes a comparison between two offers meaningful.
Can closing costs be negotiated?
Some can: which party pays certain items is a contract term, and some lender charges are negotiable or can be credited. Third-party charges and government recording fees generally are not, which is worth knowing before spending effort on them.
The formula
each side = its own fees + its share of transfer tax + its share of owner's title insurance
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How to use this calculator
- Purchase price ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $380,000.
- Buyer's loan as a share of price (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 90%.
- Buyer's lender, title and prepaid costs (%). Origination, appraisal, escrow, prepaid interest and escrow deposits together.
- Total real estate commission (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 5%.
- Seller's other costs (%). Settlement, attorney, concessions and prorations together.
- Transfer tax (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 0.5%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to total cost of closing, both sides, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Purchase price | $380,000 |
| Buyer's loan as a share of price | 90% |
| Buyer's lender, title and prepaid costs | 3% |
| Total real estate commission | 5% |
| Seller's other costs | 1% |
| Transfer tax | 0.5% |
| Transfer tax is paid by | The seller |
| Owner's title insurance | $1,600 |
| Owner's title insurance is paid by | The seller |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Total cost of closing, both sides main result | $37,700 |
| Buyer pays | $11,400 |
| Seller pays | $26,300 |
| Buyer's cash at closing | $49,400 |
| Transfer tax | $1,900 |
| Buyer's closing costs as a share of price | 3.0% |
| Seller's closing costs as a share of price | 6.9% |
Closing this sale costs $37,700 between the two sides. The buyer pays $11,400, or 3.0% of the price, and needs $49,400 at the table once the down payment is added. The seller pays $26,300, which is 6.9%.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only purchase price, this is what happens to total cost of closing, both sides. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Purchase price ($) | Total cost of closing, both sides |
|---|---|
| $190,000 | $19,650 |
| $285,000 | $28,675 |
| $380,000 example above | $37,700 |
| $570,000 | $55,750 |
| $760,000 | $73,800 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Purchase price ($)
- A money amount, starting at $380,000.
- Buyer's loan as a share of price (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 100, starting at 90%.
- Buyer's lender, title and prepaid costs (%)
- Origination, appraisal, escrow, prepaid interest and escrow deposits together.
- Total real estate commission (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 15, starting at 5%.
- Seller's other costs (%)
- Settlement, attorney, concessions and prorations together.
- Transfer tax (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 10, starting at 0.5%.
- Transfer tax is paid by
- Choose from The seller, The buyer, Split equally.
- Owner's title insurance ($)
- A money amount, starting at $1,600.
- Owner's title insurance is paid by
- Choose from The seller, The buyer, Split equally.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Total cost of closing, both sides | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Buyer pays | A money figure. |
| Seller pays | A money figure. |
| Buyer's cash at closing | A money figure. |
| Transfer tax | A money figure. |
| Buyer's closing costs as a share of price | A percentage. |
| Seller's closing costs as a share of price | A percentage. |
What is not in this number
Property figures here exclude the costs that decide whether a deal works: vacancy, maintenance, management, capital expenditure and the transaction costs at both ends. A return that looks strong before those frequently does not survive them.
Keep going
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