Understanding Mortgage Closing Costs

You’ve purchased your new home, secured a mortgage and are ready to close. Are you ready for closing costs? In the Greater Toronto Area, closing costs are often overlooked – especially by first-time homebuyers.

You don’t want to be financially unprepared to cover the full costs of closing. As a general rule of thumb, InTrend Mortgage recommends setting aside between 1.5 and 4% of your purchase price to cover all the costs you’ll be faced with at closing.

Costs before closing

Even before closing your deal, there will be a number of costs to be covered. These include:

• Your down payment or deposit: 5 – 20% of your purchase price. (Usually paid within 24 hours after a seller accepts your offer.)
• Property appraisal: Usually paid by the borrower, this can add up to $500 in costs.
• Home Inspection: Most resales will require a home inspection. This may add up to $700 in costs, depending on the size and state of the property you are purchasing.

Other costs to consider

In the Toronto area, there are a number of other costs to consider when purchasing a property. These include:

Premiums for high ratio insurance

If you’ve purchased with less than 20% down, you will be required to purchase mortgage default insurance. This usually ranges from 0.60 % to 4.50 % of your purchase price.

Legal fees and disbursements

Every property purchase must be reviewed and handled by a lawyer. A real estate lawyer will do everything from review the Offer to Purchase, register your mortgage and deed, review your mortgage contract, pay disbursements, preparing closing documents and more. These services may cost between $1,000 and $2,000.

Closing adjustments

When purchasing a property, you may also be responsible for closing adjustments. Closing adjustments are payments to the seller, refunding them for any existing payments they may have made on property taxes, condo maintenance fees, etc.

Interest adjustment (IA)

An interest adjustment is a payment to the lender to cover the time between funding of your mortgage, and the start of your mortgage term.

Fire insurance

All mortgages require fire insurance. Your premium will be based on the value of your property, or the amount of your mortgage.

Provincial sales tax (PST on high ratio insurance)

In Ontario, 8% PST is incurred on all high-ratio mortgages.

Title insurance

While optional, title insurance protects homeowners against fraud, forgery, title defects and other issues that could arise. Prices vary, but for a home worth half a million dollars, it may cost up to $250.

Ontario Land Transfer Tax (LTT):

In Toronto, LTT is usually the largest closing expense on home purchases. It is calculated on a sliding scale where the purchaser pays 0.5% on the first $55,000 of the purchase price, going up to 2% on purchases over $400,000. Thankfully, first-time homebuyers can qualify for a refund of up to $2,000.

Toronto Land Transfer Tax

If you purchase a property in Toronto, you will also be required to pay a Municipal Land Transfer Tax. On a $500,000 home, this amounts to $5,725. Again, first-time homebuyers can claim a $3,750 rebate.

Get the full picture with an InTrend Mortgage agent

As you can see, closing costs are definitely something to consider when purchasing a property.
Call us at 905-415-8488, we’d be happy to help you prepare for a successful closing.