This guide gives a Henrico County buyer or refinancer a line-by-line plan for how to reduce closing costs on a mortgage, ending with a worked dollar example. You need a recent Loan Estimate (or a property address and rough price) and about an hour. Duane Buziak, a mortgage broker in Glen Allen serving Henrico County homebuyers and homeowners, explains each move.
Written by Duane Buziak, NMLS #1110647 | Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC NMLS #376205
Step 1: Break Down Your Loan Estimate Into Negotiable and Fixed Costs
Start with the terms. Closing costs are the fees and prepaid items due when the loan funds. The Loan Estimate is the three-page form you receive within three business days of applying, and the Closing Disclosure is the final version you receive before closing. The origination charge is what the broker or lender charges for making the loan. Discount points are optional fees paid upfront, each equal to 1% of the loan amount, to buy a lower rate. Prepaids and escrows (insurance, property tax, and interest collected in advance) are not true fees, but they raise your cash to close.
Now open Page 2 of the Loan Estimate and sort the lines into three buckets:
- Negotiable: Section A, origination charges, including any points. This is where broker and lender pricing differs most.
- Shoppable: Section C, services you may choose yourself, such as title insurance and settlement agent fees (Step 4).
- Mostly fixed: Section B (services you cannot shop for, such as the appraisal) and Section E (taxes and government fees). Section B should still be similar across quotes, so a big gap deserves a question.
Section E includes Virginia recordation taxes, which are set by law, not negotiated. As of 2026, the state tax on a deed of trust is roughly 25 cents per $100 of loan amount, plus a local portion. Confirm the current rates with the Henrico Circuit Court Clerk before you budget. The seller customarily pays the grantor tax.
The most common mistake is comparing only the interest rate. A lower rate with 1.5 points can cost more than a slightly higher rate with none. Use the Total Closing Costs line on Page 2 and the Comparisons box on Page 3, which shows APR and total cost over five years. The CFPB’s Loan Estimate explainer walks through each line if a term is unfamiliar.
Step 2: Compare Quotes Without Hurting Your Credit
A single-shelf company can quote only from its own rate sheet. A mortgage broker can price the same scenario across hundreds of wholesale lenders and present the one that fits. That matters for closing costs, because origination charges, credits, and points vary from one wholesale rate sheet to the next.
To see real numbers before any hard inquiry, Duane Buziak uses the NoTouch Credit Pull, a soft pull that does not affect your score. You get a realistic read on rate and costs first, and you decide whether to move to a full application.
When you do request full quotes, scoring models generally treat multiple mortgage inquiries inside a short window as a single inquiry. The length of that window depends on the scoring model, so confirm the current guidance through the CFPB’s mortgage shopping resources and keep your quotes close together.
To make the quotes comparable:
- Request every Loan Estimate on the same day, so rates reflect the same market.
- Use the same loan type (conventional, FHA, or VA), the same loan amount, and the same down payment.
- Ask for the same rate-lock period on each.
- Compare Section A totals first, then Total Closing Costs, then the five-year figure on Page 3.
If another provider already gave you a number, take it up on Duane’s Dare to Compare challenge: bring that Loan Estimate and he will price the same scenario beside it. You verify the pricing instead of taking a claim on faith.
Step 3: Decide Whether to Buy Points or Take a Credit
Every rate comes with a trade-off between cash now and payment later. Paying discount points lowers the rate but raises cash due. Accepting a slightly higher rate can produce a lender credit, a dollar amount that offsets your closing costs. When a credit covers enough of the bill, that is what Duane calls a no-out-of-pocket closing option. It is not free: you pay for it through the rate.
The math is a break-even calculation. Divide the upfront cost by the monthly savings. Suppose, for illustration, a $405,000 loan at 6.50% has a principal and interest payment of $2,559.88. Paying one point ($4,050) to reach 6.25% drops the payment to $2,493.67, a saving of $66.21 a month. Then $4,050 divided by $66.21 is about 61 months. You only come out ahead if you keep the loan and the home past roughly five years.
Credits run the other direction. Taking 6.75% instead of 6.50% might fund a credit of 0.5% ($2,025) and raise the payment to $2,626.83, which is $66.95 more each month. The credit is effectively repaid in about 30 months, since $2,025 divided by $66.95 is just over 30.
Use your timeline as the decision rule:
- A move-up buyer in Short Pump or Wyndham planning to stay ten years or more usually has time to recover the cost of points.
- A first-time buyer near Lakeside or Twin Hickory who might relocate in five years often does better with a credit or a lower-cost structure.
One mistake to avoid: accepting a rate so high that the monthly cost outweighs the cash saved. If the break-even on a credit is 30 months and you plan to stay 8 years, you are paying for that credit for a long time. Ask for both versions on paper and run the math.
Step 4: Shop the Third-Party Services You’re Allowed to Choose
Section C lists services you may be able to shop for, typically title insurance, the settlement agent’s fee, a survey, and a pest inspection. Within three business days of your application, you should receive a written list of providers along with your Loan Estimate. The CFPB’s Loan Estimate page explains which services are shoppable and what happens if you choose a provider off the list. If your Loan Estimate marks a service as shoppable, call two or three providers and ask for written quotes.
Virginia relies on title agents and attorneys to conduct settlements, so the settlement fee and the title insurance premium are real items to compare. Ask each provider to itemize:
- The settlement or closing fee
- The owner’s and lender’s title insurance premiums
- Any endorsement, courier, or document-prep charges
- On a refinance, whether a reissue-rate discount applies if you buy coverage from the same insurer who covered the property before (rules and eligibility vary, so confirm as of 2026)
Do not choose purely on the lowest number. A title company unfamiliar with Henrico County recording timelines can slow the funding and recording process, and a delayed closing can cost you more than a $75 savings: rate-lock extension fees, an extra day of interest, or a seller who gets nervous. Ask each provider how often they close in Henrico, and how quickly they record.
If you are comparing a $2,400 quote with a $2,050 quote from a firm that closes in Glen Allen and Short Pump every week, the $350 difference is worth taking. If the cheaper firm cannot tell you how it handles Henrico recordings, keep looking.
Step 5: Negotiate Seller Concessions and Lender Credits
On a purchase, you can ask the seller to contribute toward your closing costs in the offer. Programs cap how much the seller may contribute:
- Conventional: The cap depends on down payment and occupancy. For a primary residence under Fannie Mae’s interested party contribution rules, the limit is 3% with less than 10% down, 6% with 10% to 25% down, and 9% with more than 25% down (as of 2026, so verify before you write the offer).
- FHA: FHA sets its own limit, so ask Duane for the current figure before you write the offer.
- VA: The seller can pay certain costs, with limits on which concessions count. The VA funding fee can be financed into the loan instead of paid at closing. Confirm current amounts on the VA funding fee and closing costs page.
A concession can only cover actual closing costs, so it cannot put cash in your pocket. It also works only when the market allows. In a competitive Glen Allen or Short Pump listing with multiple offers, a seller may pass on an offer that asks for a credit. In that case, pair a lower-concession offer with a lender credit from Step 3, which does not depend on the seller.
If you are refinancing instead of buying, remember the loan-to-value rules. A conventional cash-out refinance is capped at 90% LTV, while a VA cash-out refinance can go up to 100% LTV for eligible borrowers. The more you borrow against the home, the more any closing costs financed into the loan add to the balance, so check how much cash you actually need.
Step 6: Time Your Closing Date and Lock Strategy to Trim Prepaids
Prepaid interest is charged from your closing day through the end of that month. Closing late in the month means fewer days of prepaid interest at the table. Understand what this does: it shifts cash timing, because your first payment is correspondingly larger or begins sooner, and it does not lower your true cost.
The bigger prepaid item is the escrow setup. Ask each quote how many months of homeowners insurance and Henrico County real estate tax are collected upfront. Henrico bills real estate tax on assessed value, and the county’s finance pages list the current rate and billing dates. The date of your closing relative to those bills affects how many months the escrow account needs at the start. Compare these lines across quotes, because different providers can estimate the cushion differently.
Rate-lock length also affects price. A longer lock can cost more, so match it to the real timeline:
- A resale with a 30-day contract usually fits a 30 to 45 day lock.
- New construction or a slow-moving contract may need longer, and you should ask what an extension costs.
- Ask whether a float-down option is offered and what it costs, in case rates fall before closing.
Before changing dates, decide which problem you are solving. If you are short on cash at closing, a later date and a seller concession help. If you want the lowest total cost over the life of the loan, closing date makes almost no difference. Mixing up those two goals is the most common prepaid mistake.
Step 7: Run the Numbers on a Real Henrico Example and Compare Your Final Loan Estimate
Here is an illustration, not a quote. Imagine a $450,000 purchase in Glen Allen with 10% down ($45,000), for a $405,000 loan at an illustrative 6.50%. Assume the original Loan Estimate shows these fees (prepaids and escrows are the same in both scenarios, so they are left out):
- Origination at 1.0%: $4,050
- Appraisal and credit report: $710
- Title and settlement (Section C): $2,400
- Taxes and recording (Section E): $1,500 on the deed plus $1,350 on the deed of trust, or $2,850
The total is $4,050 + $710 + $2,400 + $2,850 = $10,010.
Now apply three moves. Shopping title saves $350. A seller concession of $4,500 (1% of the price, well inside a 6% cap at 90% LTV) removes $4,500. Taking 6.75% for a 0.5% lender credit removes $2,025. The result is $10,010 − $350 − $4,500 − $2,025 = $3,135, a reduction of $6,875. The trade-off is the payment: $2,626.83 instead of $2,559.88, or $66.95 more each month.
| Strategy | Cash Saved Upfront | Trade-Off | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lender credit (6.75% instead of 6.50%) | $2,025 | Payment rises $66.95 a month; repaid in about 30 months | Buyers who may move within 5 to 7 years |
| Seller concession (1% of price) | $4,500 | Seller may refuse or counter on price | Buyers in markets with room to negotiate |
| Shopped title and settlement | $350 | Needs written quotes and a check on Henrico experience | Everyone with shoppable Section C items |
| Later closing date (20 fewer days) | About $1,498 in prepaid interest, shifted not saved | Raises the first payment; no lower total cost | Buyers short on cash at closing |
| One discount point | None (adds $4,050) | Saves $66.21 a month; break-even near 61 months | Move-up buyers staying 10 years or more |
The prepaid line comes from daily interest: $405,000 × 6.75% ÷ 365 is about $74.90 a day, times 20 days.
When your updated Loan Estimate arrives, compare it with the original line by line, before the Closing Disclosure comes. The Closing Disclosure should arrive at least three business days before closing, and the CFPB’s Closing Disclosure page explains the timing. Origination charges in Section A generally cannot increase beyond tolerance unless there is a valid change of circumstance, so ask for the reason in writing if a figure moves.
Check the Closing Disclosure, Then Get a Side-by-Side Quote
Once the Closing Disclosure arrives, set it next to your final Loan Estimate and confirm every Section A figure, the credits, and the cash to close. Questions at that point are far easier to resolve than at the table.
Your dream home in Henrico County is closer than you think: discover exactly what you can afford with our credit-safe pre-qualification process that protects your score while unlocking your options. Get pre-qualified today and take the first step toward homeownership with a local mortgage expert who understands your community. You can also call Duane Buziak at Henrico Mortgage by Duane Buziak, 804-212-8663, for a side-by-side quote.
Closing Cost Questions Henrico Buyers Ask
Who is a mortgage broker in Henrico, VA?
Duane Buziak is a mortgage broker based in Glen Allen who serves Henrico County homebuyers and homeowners, helping families find their new homes since 2014. A broker can compare pricing across hundreds of wholesale lenders instead of quoting from one rate sheet.