You’ve finally chosen your dream Atlanta new home and the big day, closing day, is finally here, but are you fully prepared for the costs associated with closing on your home?

Closing costs are one of the biggest out-of-pocket expenses that a buyer will have when purchasing a new home. In many cases, it is customary for the seller to help pay part or all of these costs, but where do they come from? Closing costs are the total of all the fees associated with buying a new home. A majority of these expenses come from the lender section of your mortgage, where you will be charged fees for underwriting, processing and origination.

Origination fees, also known as discount points, are essentially a way for new home purchasers to buy their interest rate down. In order to get the lowest advertised interest rate on your loan, you must pay a certain amount of tax deductible money that acts as prepaid interest. What does this mean? The lower the interest rate you want, the higher your closing costs will be. While many would think this is always a smart investment, Academy Mortgage warns buyers that it may not be in their best interest if they can’t recuperate the costs.