That's pretty solid advice. I went through something similar a few months back—thought I'd scored a sweet deal until I spotted some sneaky "processing fees" tucked away in the fine print.
That's definitely a good catch on those hidden fees—they're notorious for sneaking in stuff like that. Did you manage to negotiate them away, or did you just bite the bullet? Sometimes lenders will budge if you question it early enough...
Did you manage to negotiate them away, or did you just bite the bullet?
I tried negotiating mine down, but honestly, the lender wasn't budging much. Ended up just accepting it since the overall deal was still decent. Makes me wonder though—are there specific fees lenders are usually more flexible on? I'm still pretty new to this, so it'd be good to know for next time...
"Makes me wonder though—are there specific fees lenders are usually more flexible on?"
In my experience, lenders rarely budge much on interest rates themselves, but they're often more open to negotiating things like origination fees or appraisal costs. When I refinanced a couple years back, the lender wouldn't touch the rate at all, but they did waive the appraisal fee after a bit of back-and-forth. It wasn't huge savings, but hey, every little bit counts...
Also, sometimes it's less about negotiating down individual fees and more about shopping around. If you bring a competing offer to your lender, they're usually more inclined to match or beat it. I've found that approach tends to work better than just asking outright for discounts.
Just something to keep in mind for next time—good luck!
"Also, sometimes it's less about negotiating down individual fees and more about shopping around."
That's been my experience too. When we bought our place, the lender wouldn't budge on origination fees, but they did agree to lower the closing costs slightly after we showed them another offer. Makes me wonder though—has anyone had luck negotiating down title insurance fees? Those always seemed pretty fixed to me, but maybe I'm missing something...
Title insurance fees are usually pretty standardized, but there's still a bit of wiggle room. I've found you can't really negotiate the premium itself (that's regulated in many states), but you can sometimes save by shopping around for different title companies. Also, bundling services—like using the same company for escrow and title—can occasionally score you a small discount. It's not huge savings, but every bit counts when you're closing...
