Buying a villa in Orlando - need help on settlement charges please!

[LOUISE1]

Hello

We are in the process of buying a villa in Orlando. The purchase price for the villa is $210000. We used a mortgage consultant who is charging us $2000 for his services. We finally got the loan application through at the weekend and it includes a good faith estimate which totals $8600. We were shocked that this was so high - we actually thought the $2000 was what we were paying for the mortgage application! Didn't realise we had nearly another $9000 to pay out! Please can anyone tell me if this is normal in Florida?

Thanks

Louise

[DaveL]

Hi Louise and welcome,

I'm travelling at the moment so this will be a shorter reply than normal but I am sure other members will give you a lot more help.

I think this may be something that is generally called closing costs and 5% of the total price is not unusual.

Regards Dave

[carolmc]

Hi Louise - sounds about right to me...check with your Realtor just to be sure of the totals

[steph_goodrum]

The "Good faith estimate" details all the costs you have to pay to close (or complete as we would use in the UK) It includes things like brokers commission (estate agent fees), any portion of the HOA assesments, property taxes etc. Title company . They will give you a complete list before you sign. Be prepared though, if you werent prepared for this expense there will be many more along the way of homeownership that will take you by surprise.

[Snapper]

Hi Louise. Have you had a HUD-1 yet? That should itemise everything out for you. If not, ask your mortgage consultant to take you through a breakdown of the figures.

$9k on a $210k property does not sound out of the ordinary.

[LOUISE1]

Hi Dave

Thanks - I think I have a lot to learn!

Louise

[DaveL]

Hi,

I should have said this morning that there is a restricted part of the forum where you can find out about buying a villa in Florida. As this is not of interest to most people it is hidden from normal view.

If you email the site and forum owners at info@orlandovillas.com they can let you have access to this section. There is a lot of information there as this subject has come up many times.

Regards Dave

[brownm]

Surely your Realtor should have talked you through these closing costs?

I would talk to them again and request they talk you through the costs etc, I know it's a mind field when you purchase a property abroad but make sure you are clear on every step of the way and they work for there commission.

Regards,

Mark.

[florida4sun]

They do and at time of purchase you would get a break down of anticipated costs. In the excitement of at all most people overlook it all.

Surely your Realtor should have talked you through these closing costs?

I would talk to them again and request they talk you through the costs etc, I know it's a mind field when you purchase a property abroad but make sure you are clear on every step of the way and they work for there commission.

Regards,

Mark.