Closing Costs when Purchasing a Home

In today's market I constantly hear that sellers will pay the closing costs for a buyer. In the current market it has become customary for a buyer to ask for closing cost but do understand that is just another negotiated item, sellers are NOT required to pay a buyers closing cost. There are a few things to consider when asking the seller to pay for your closing cost. First is how your Real Estate agent words it on the sales contract. A good Real Estate agent that represents the seller will inform their client to only pay non recurring closing cost. When this happens the buyer will be required to pay all pre-paid items such as, Insurance, taxes and all up front escrow amounts. This could be well over $1,000 and if the buyer has not planned for this they could be very disappointed at the closing table. As a buyer avoid asking for a % amount in closing cost. I have seen contracts that involve % amounts and if the terminology is not correct you can be paying a lot of money at the closing table.  An example I had a contract come in that read, seller to pay 3% of buyers closing cost. What that amounted to was just over $75.00 which was $2,000 less than the buyer had anticipated. The terminology in a contract is the most important aspect as once it has been accepted any changes once again need to be negotiated and your dream home could slip away if the seller happens to have received another offer while you were waiting on closing the property. Be sure your Real Estate agent understands what you are expecting so they can work for your best interest. Hope this helped and let me know if you have any questions.