If permitted by state law, the Application fee is a non-interest, loan-related fee, paid to the lender. The fee is assessed by the lender to cover their reasonable administrative and transactional costs for the origination services of your loan. The fee can vary per lender and may have variations on the fee name. When charged, this fee will only be collected and paid when your loan closes.

Generally, a lender will require a valuation to determine the market value of the subject property. When required, the value of the subject property is used to calculate the loan amount as a percentage of the property value or loan-to-value ratio. The loan-to-value ratio is one of the factors used to make a credit decision on your mortgage loan application. The fee amount will never be more than the amount charged by the appraisal management company (AMC).

We believe in full transparency and our goal is to help you get a mortgage the way we would. We want you to understand the ways we get compensated by the lender or borrower for services provided. Borrower paid compensation means that the borrower will be responsible for paying the loan originators fee for their services for the mortgage. The benefit to this means that the borrower is allowed to negotiate for the loan origination’s fees and it’s not built into the interest rate and pricing as a lender paid compensation. It will be disclosed on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure as “Borrower Paid” and is typically based on a percentage of the loan amount but can also be a flat fee.

Nearly all loans require Homeric to obtain your credit report. The credit report provides a FICO score, liabilities and other information that will assist Homeric in shopping, underwriting, and making a credit decision on your application. The Credit Report fee is a fee paid by you, through Homeric, to a credit report provider. As we shop your loan in our lender network we have to reissue the report inside our partner system. This incurs a small fee each time we do, typically $1-4 dollars each time depending on the type of use in the system. The fee amount will never be more than the amount charged by the credit report provider.

A common way to reduce your interest rate is to pay discount point(s). Each loan’s interest rate a lender offers may come with either a credit or cost. Depending on the availability, you could choose to lower your interest rate by paying the cost associated with that rate reduction. For example:

• A 3.5% rate could come with a $1000 credit (Money given to you to assist with closing costs); or
• The 3.0% rate, which does not have a credit but actually costs you $300 in order to obtain the reduced interest rate (Points).

Most mortgage loans (1st lien) require that you establish an escrow account at the time the loan closes. The monies you place into the escrow account are held by the lender or loan servicer and are used to pay property taxes, hazard insurance (including flood insurance if required), and other future obligations. By putting the monies into the escrow account with each loan payment, you help ensure that when a tax or insurance payment becomes due, there are sufficient monies in the account to pay the item.

The initial amount placed into the escrow account, as well as the monthly payment amount, is established at the time of loan closing and is based on when items (Hazard Insurance and Property Taxes) are required to be paid. Further, the amounts are limited by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The timing of the year can also play a role in the amount required to be placed into escrows. Homeric’s loan originators can help explain escrows and how they affect your loan.

Every home in the United States is either in a flood zone or not. The determination if the property is located in a flood zone is provided by a report based on FEMA maps. Homeric must determine that your home is not in a flood zone, and if it is, that flood insurance is available. Homeric will not lend on a home that is in a flood zone unless it has flood insurance as required by law. Flood insurance will also help protect you in the event of a covered flood. The fee amount will never be more than the amount charged by the flood hazard determination provider.

Homeowners insurance is required to cover possible damages to your home. In the event of a fire or other damage, the hazard insurance is to cover the costs of rebuilding the home. Your first year’s insurance is often paid at closing. HOI is also part of calculating the monies required at closing for escrow. Homeowner Insurance is also referred to as “Hazard Insurance” or “HOI”.

We believe in full transparency and our goal is to help you get a mortgage the way we would. We want you to understand the ways we get compensated y the lender or borrower for services provided. Lender paid compensation means that the lender will pay all of the loan origination fees for the service which is predetermined between the lender and the broker and cannot be changed. The lender paid compensation is built into the interest rate and pricing quoted. It will be disclosed on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure as “Lender Paid” and is typically based on a percentage of the loan amount.

Depending on your property’s location, some areas always require a pest inspection. Most areas will only require an inspection if there is evidence of a pest infestation noted on your appraisal.

If permitted by state law, the Processing fee is a charge retained by the Lender for the cost associated with the processing of your application. Processing includes the costs associated with gathering and reviewing all the documents necessary to originate your loan. This fee if charged can vary on the lender in our network. When charged, this fee will only be collected and paid if your loan closes.

A recording fee is a settlement cost that is charged by a local government agency in order to record the documents that evidence your purchase and/or loan. The fees are usually determined at the local recording office in the city or county where the property is located and can vary significantly based on the jurisdiction/state.

This is a fee paid by you directly to a survey company for the cost of a survey of the property. The survey is used to verify your property limits and lines. A survey of the property may be required to verify boundary lines for your property and to ensure that there is no encroachment on the lot. Occasionally, the title company may require a survey. It also may be required if you have made any structural improvements or changes to your property. Property line structural changes can include a garage, new fence (vs replacing an old fence). A pool would be an example of a structural change that may not require a new survey as they are not typically built near property lines. While a survey is usually not required by Homeric to obtain the mortgage loan, we do recommend you obtain a survey and review it with the title company prior to loan closing. The survey will help ensure you are getting the property you believe you are buying.

When you purchase a property or refinance that property, Homeric will require that a title company perform a search of the property’s records. The search and review of such records will ensure no other entity or person maintains a claim to the subject property. The fee associated with this search and examination is paid directly to the title company or examination firm. These fees are typically slightly inflated initially on the loan estimate to cover the potential fees while we pull an accurate and detailed estimate directly from the title company. This fee then gets updated to accurately convey the costs of the title fees specific to your property. The fee amount will never be more than the amount charged by the title company.

Many states/jurisdictions charge a fee or tax when a property is sold from one person to another. The amount of the fee is set either at the state or local level and is paid at the time the property is transferred.

If permitted by state law, the Underwriting fee covers the cost of researching and reviewing your application and whether to issue an approval. This fee is charged and determined by the lender in our network and can sometimes be part of the application fee. When charged, this fee will only be collected and paid if your loan closes.