Question 5: How much should a buyer save to buy a house? 

Answer:
A buyer’s closing costs include things like inspections, loan fees, appraisal, buyer broker fee, down payment and a buffer in case of emergencies once they own their home. But as we discussed last time, they might be able to get the seller to pay some of their fees. 

I would suggest talking to a mortgage lender to get pre-approved and get a sense of the closing costs with the lender and also interviewing Realtors to see what they charge and what services they provide. Between those two things a buyer should be able to get a really good idea of the funds they’ll need to close and if they’ll need to ask the seller to help them pay their closing costs.

My final bit of advice is if you have your down payment and small buffer saved, don’t worry about moving forward with a search. Everything is negotiable and since we seem to be heading towards a buyer’s market they might be able to negotiate the seller helping pay their buyer’s broker’s fee and possibly other closing costs as well. 

As always, feel free to call one of the highly skilled brokers at Talia Freedman and Co. to discuss your situation and the best path forward to reach your goals.

Here’s a video that goes into a little more details about how much to save.