Are you thinking about buying a house but are wondering how much it’s going to cost you? In this video, we're going to go over the average closing costs you can expect when purchasing a home in Sacramento. When you know your closing costs, you're going to be better prepared will avoid any last-minute surprises.

Common Buyer Closing Costs

Down Payment

The first out-of-pocket expense you're going to have is your down payment. It’s needed when buying your house, though it’s not really a cost. While you can think of it more as investing—because it's going to go right into your house—you will feel it because it won't be in your bank account.

One of the first things you do before rushing out and looking at properties is to speak to a great lender. This will allow you to figure out your loan amount and how much down payment you're going to need.

Title And Escrow Fees

Now that you have the down payment out of the way, let's go into the actual transaction costs when you purchase a home. These are going to be the cost of doing business when you buy a house in Sacramento.

When it comes to dissecting the average closing costs in Sacramento the first cost that you're going to see is your title cost. This is to make sure you own the home. Just like you get a title for your car, you also want a title for your house. It's the title company's job is to make sure the title is transferred to you free and clear, legally in your name—and they're going to charge you for that.

The next closing cost that you're going to see on your closing statement is escrow or escrow fees. Escrow is a neutral third party that acts on behalf of the buyer and the seller. They hold onto all monies and transfer the monies within the transaction. When you close with the escrow company, your title is insured by the title company. Escrow is kind of like the quarterback of the transaction. They handle all the money, the transferring, and make sure everybody's paid.

Lender Fees And Transfer Taxes

The next set of costs you’ll have are miscellaneous lender fees. These will differ depending on the type of loan that you're getting and who you are getting it for. It'll differ also on the loan amount and the amount financed, though you should be able to get this information from your lender well ahead of time. You’ll see things like a credit processing fee, an appraisal fee, and an underwriting fee. These are all the costs of doing business when getting a loan.

Next, you’ll have city and county stamp or transfer taxes. These fees will differ depending on the county and city, as well as which neighborhood or part of Sacramento you buy in. These are the fees that they charge you to process your paperwork. Everybody has to pay them. It's no different than paying a tax when at the grocery store. You're paying a tax to transfer a good or service, and the wonderful City of Sacramento wants some of your money too.

Home Inspections

Another set of costs only come in while you're in escrow to purchase the property, and those are your home inspections. It's a good idea to get an independent, recommended third party to check out the house, ensuring all systems are working.

We also always advise people to get a pest report to look for termites or dry rot, along with a roof inspection and sewer inspection. Of course, these inspections also depend on the condition and the age of the property and how in-depth you want to be. Still, we highly recommend getting these inspections done before you close the transaction.

One of the reasons this is so important is because the average person only spends 15 minutes in a house before they decide to buy it. That means that they didn't get a chance to test the AC, plumbing, toilet, and other systems to see what's truly going on with the house. That's why we recommend ordering these inspections.

Your Closing Costs Estimate

I hope this gives you a better idea of the average closing costs associated with buying a house in Sacramento so you can add them to your budget. If you want to get a better idea of what your actual closing costs are going to look like, we would be happy to provide that for you.

If you have any other questions about average closing costs in Sacramento, buying, selling, or real estate in general, feel free to reach out to me and I’d be happy to help