What to budget for beyond the price

The price on the listing is the number everyone talks about. It's not the number you actually need to have ready. Between "they accepted your offer" and "here are your keys," a handful of other costs show up. Some hit at closing, some the week you move in, some every year after. Here's the whole picture, with real ranges, so nothing catches you off guard.

Your down payment

You don't need 20% down. That's the most common myth in home buying. Conventional loans go as low as 3% down for many buyers, FHA loans sit at 3.5%, and VA loans (if you've served) can be zero down. On a $350,000 home, 3% is $10,500 and 20% is $70,000. That's a wide range, and the right spot depends on your savings, your rate, and whether you want to avoid mortgage insurance.

Putting less down gets you into a home sooner. Putting more down lowers your monthly payment and can skip the insurance. Neither is the "right" answer. It's a trade, and a good lender will run both versions for you before you decide.

Earnest money

When your offer is accepted, you'll put down earnest money, usually 1% to 2% of the price, to show the seller you're serious. On a $350,000 home that's $3,500 to $7,000. This isn't an extra cost. It sits in an escrow account and gets credited toward your down payment and closing costs at the table. You only lose it if you walk away for a reason the contract doesn't protect you on, which is exactly why the attorney and the contingencies matter.

Closing costs

Plan on 2% to 5% of the purchase price in closing costs, roughly $7,000 to $17,500 on a $350,000 home. This is the bucket people underestimate. It covers:

• Lender and origination fees
• The appraisal (usually $400 to $600), which the lender orders to confirm the home is worth what you're paying
• Title insurance and the title search, which protect you and the lender against a problem in the home's ownership history
• Recording and transfer fees paid to the county and, in some towns, the municipality
• Prepaid items: the first chunk of property tax and homeowner's insurance the lender collects up front to start your escrow account

Some of these are negotiable. In a slower market you can sometimes ask the seller to cover part of them, called a seller credit. Your agent and attorney will know what's realistic for the specific deal.

The attorney

Illinois is an attorney-review state, so you'll have a real estate attorney on your side for the whole back half of the deal. They review the contract during the attorney-review period, handle the title work, and represent you at closing. The fee is usually flat, commonly $500 to $900, and it's money well spent. They catch the things you can't, and they're the reason a problem found in week two doesn't become a problem you own in year two.

The inspection

Budget $350 to $600 for a general home inspection, more if you add specialized ones. A well and septic inspection out in Homer Glen or Lockport, a radon test, a sewer scope on an older home. You pay for it out of pocket, usually within the first week. It's optional, but skipping it to win a bidding war is how people end up owning someone else's deferred maintenance. On well-and-septic homes especially, this is not the place to save money.

Homeowner's insurance and escrow

Your lender requires homeowner's insurance, and they'll usually collect it, along with your property taxes, in an escrow account folded into your monthly payment. That's why your "mortgage payment" is bigger than just principal and interest. At closing you prepay a few months of both to get the escrow account started, which is part of those closing costs above.

Property taxes

Illinois has some of the higher property taxes in the country, and the southwest suburbs are no exception. Two things to know going in. First, taxes here are paid in arrears, so this year's bill covers last year. At closing the seller credits you for the part of the year they owned the home, and you take over the bill going forward. Second, the tax number varies a lot by town and even by school district, so read the tax line on any listing as a real monthly cost. Our property taxes guide breaks down how the bill is built and which exemptions to claim.

PMI, if you put less than 20% down

Put less than 20% down on a conventional loan and you'll usually pay private mortgage insurance, or PMI, until you've built roughly 20% equity. It's a monthly add-on that protects the lender, not you. It runs somewhere around $30 to $70 a month per $100,000 borrowed, depending on your credit and down payment. FHA loans have their own version that works a little differently. None of this is a reason to avoid buying with less down. It's just a line in the monthly number you should see before you commit.

The stuff after you move in

The costs don't stop at closing. There's the move itself, the immediate fixes every new owner finds, and ongoing upkeep. A common rule of thumb is to set aside about 1% of the home's value a year for repairs, so $3,500 on a $350,000 home. Some years you spend nothing. The year the furnace or the water heater goes, you're glad the cushion is there. Older homes and bigger lots, like the acreage you'll find in parts of Homer Glen, tend to run higher.

The number that actually matters: cash to close

Add the down payment, the closing costs, and the prepaid escrow. Subtract your earnest money and any seller credit. What's left is your cash to close — the amount you actually wire before you get the keys. A good lender gives you this number in writing early, in a document called a Loan Estimate, so you're never guessing.

Have more than the down payment ready. Between closing costs, the attorney, the inspection, and the first year of ownership, the extras are real, but every one of them is knowable in advance. A dwello agent and a good lender will walk you through the actual numbers for the specific home before you write the offer, so the only surprise at closing is how fast it goes.