What Do You Pay at Closing When You Buy a Home in El Paso?
When is closing, and when is your down payment actually due?
Closing is usually about 30 days after you go under contract, and that date is completely negotiable. It is a term in your contract like any other, and it gets set to fit the deal.
On new construction it can be much further out. If you are buying a home that has not been built yet, closing might be six or nine months away.
Your down payment is due at closing, not before. This is the single most common misunderstanding we run into. People think they need the full down payment in hand to start looking, or to make an offer. You do not. What you need before closing is the earnest money, the option fee, and your inspection, which together run about $3,100 on a $300,000 home. That is covered in the upfront costs guide.
Closing day itself is the part everybody pictures. You sit down, you sign, pen on paper, and you get the keys.
What are the three costs due at closing?
Your down payment. This is the part of the purchase price you pay yourself, and it lowers the amount you borrow. It can be as low as zero and as high as twenty percent or more, depending on your loan program and what you qualify for. Across the buyers we work with, about 3.5% is the most common, because that is the FHA minimum.
Zero down is real and it is not rare here. VA loans require no down payment. USDA loans require no down payment outside eligible boundaries. And several assistance programs will cover the down payment outright. The programs that actually work in El Paso are in the first time buyer guide.
Your closing costs. Roughly 3% of the purchase price. This is the bundle of fees it takes to actually transfer a house: lender fees, title work, recording, prepaid taxes and insurance, and the escrow account your lender sets up for future tax and insurance bills. It is not one charge, it is about twenty of them.
Your agent's compensation. This is negotiable and always has been. There is no standard rate and there is no going rate. The amount is whatever you and your agent agree to, in writing, before they start working for you, and it is spelled out in your buyer representation agreement. Whether you end up paying it out of pocket or the seller covers it is a separate negotiation, and it happens in your offer.
What does that look like on a $300,000 home?
Here is the honest version, with nothing hidden:
| Cost | On a $300,000 home |
|---|---|
| Down payment at 3.5% | $10,500 |
| Closing costs at about 3% | $9,000 |
| Agent compensation | Whatever you negotiated |
| Subtotal before compensation | $19,500 |
That number is real, and if it is where you stop reading, you will conclude you cannot buy a house this year.
Keep reading, because that is almost never what our buyers actually bring.
Why most El Paso buyers do not pay that
Two things happen between that table and closing day, and both of them are negotiations rather than luck.
The seller very often covers your closing costs, and frequently your agent's compensation too. So far this year, we have gotten the seller to cover both on about 85% of all our buyers. Not a majority. Not usually. Eighty-five percent.
That is not a market condition you wait around for. It is something you ask for in the offer, and how you structure the rest of the offer determines whether you get it. Somebody has to be willing to trade for it, and know what is worth trading.
And the down payment is the part assistance programs are designed to erase. Between TDHCA, TSAHC, USDA, VA and a handful of local programs, plenty of El Paso buyers close with nothing down.
So the arc for a lot of the people we work with looks like this:
| On a $300,000 home | |
|---|---|
| What it looks like on paper | about $19,500 plus compensation |
| After the seller covers closing costs and compensation | $10,500 |
| After down payment assistance | as low as $0 |
Three numbers, same house, same buyer. The difference between them is entirely about how the offer was written and which programs got used.
Which is the honest reason to have somebody good on your side of the table. Not because the house is hard to find. Because the gap between the first number and the third one is about nineteen thousand dollars.
How do you actually pay it on closing day?
Not with a personal check, and this part matters more than it sounds like.
Your funds go to the title company by wire transfer, usually a day or two before closing or the morning of. The title company sends you wiring instructions, you send the money, and it has to land before they will fund the deal.
And here is the warning almost nobody in this business puts in writing.
Wire fraud targets exactly this moment. Criminals monitor real estate transactions, then send an email that looks like it came from your title company or your agent, with new wiring instructions and a reason the account changed. People send their entire down payment to a stranger. It is very hard to get back.
So: before you send a dollar, call the title company to verify the wiring instructions, using a phone number you already had. Not a number in the email. Not a number in the signature block. A number you looked up yourself or had before today.
If anyone emails you saying the wire instructions have changed, assume it is fraud until you have confirmed it by phone with a person you know. Legitimate wiring instructions almost never change mid-transaction.
That one phone call is the cheapest insurance in the entire purchase.
After closing, here is what to do after you buy.
FAQ
When is my down payment due when buying a house?
At closing, not before. Before closing you need earnest money, your option fee and your inspection, which come to roughly $3,100 on a $300,000 home in El Paso. Your down payment is wired to the title company right before the closing date.
What are closing costs in El Paso?
Roughly 3% of the purchase price, or about $9,000 on a $300,000 home. It covers lender fees, title work, recording fees, prepaid property taxes and insurance, and the escrow account your lender sets up.
Can the seller pay my closing costs in El Paso?
Yes, and it happens far more often than people expect. This year, sellers covered closing costs and agent compensation on about 85% of all our buyers. It is something you ask for in the offer and structure the rest of the offer around.
How much is a down payment on a $300,000 house?
It depends on the loan. FHA is 3.5%, or $10,500. VA and USDA can be zero. Conventional programs start around 3% to 5%. Several assistance programs in El Paso will cover the down payment entirely if you qualify.
How much does a real estate agent cost?
It is negotiable and it always has been. There is no standard rate. The amount is whatever you and your agent agree to in writing before they begin working for you, and whether the seller covers it is a separate negotiation in your offer.
How long after going under contract do you close?
About 30 days is typical, and the date is negotiable. On new construction it can be six to nine months, depending on where the home is in the build.
How do I send money for closing?
By wire transfer to the title company, usually a day or two before closing. Always verify the wiring instructions by calling the title company at a number you already had, not one from an email. Wire fraud targets this exact step.
The figures on this page are typical El Paso examples on a $300,000 purchase and will not match every transaction. Your actual costs depend on your loan program, your lender, your purchase price and your contract. Real estate commissions are negotiable and are not set by law or by any association. This is not legal, tax, or lending advice. Get your specific numbers from your lender and your title company before you rely on any of it.
Selling as well as buying? The complete guide to selling your home in El Paso covers what comes out of your side at closing.