Closing Costs
The fees paid to complete a real estate transaction — title, escrow, recording, transfer taxes — beyond the purchase price itself.
Closing costs are the transaction fees that finalize a sale: title insurance, escrow and settlement fees, recording fees, transfer taxes, and any prorated taxes or liens cleared at closing. They're separate from the purchase price and split between buyer and seller according to contract and local custom.
Investors fold closing costs into deal math because they eat directly into margin — and a double close pays them twice, once on each leg, which is part of why assignments are cheaper when they're an option. Underestimating closing costs is a quiet way a deal that looked profitable on paper comes in thin at the table.
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