New Home Warranty Enrolment Fee

In most provinces, special insurance providers offer warranties on new homes. The enrolment fee (often in the $500-1,000 range) protects buyers from having to pay for any repairs, should the builder default or fail to build to standard.

Some builders include this fee in the asking price; if yours does not, it will be added to the Statement of Adjustments, made payable to the builder.

Appraisal Fee

If you are putting down more than 20% of the purchase price of your home, you will be left with a conventional mortgage – a mortgage that does not require default insurance. When you are buying any home with a conventional mortgage, your lender will ask you to get an appraisal. An appraisal of the property serves as confirmation for the lender that the market value of the property is accurate. The appraisal fee is sometimes the buyer’s responsibility and can range from $150-500.

Land Survey Fee

Whenever you buy a home, most lenders will ask for an up-to-date land survey to be done. The survey itself is fairly simple: a surveyor visits the property you want to buy, measures the land, and ensures all boundary lines in the property title are being followed. Because the seller usually commissions the land survey, they would also pay the fee (generally in the $600-900 range). If the seller of your home doesn’t commission an up-to-date survey, your lender may ask you to get one done – leaving you to pay the fee.

Hook-up Fees

While hook-up fees aren’t a closing cost per se, having people come to setup cable, Internet, electricity, gas, etc. costs money and it’s a good idea to keep a few hundred dollars in your budget to cover those fees.