How to find the total mortgage amount after down payment and closing costs

Key takeaway: This is a money problem, but the math is really about percentages and adding fees in the right order. Once you separate the purchase price, the down payment, and the closing costs, the setup is straightforward.

Step 1: Find the down payment

The purchase price is $200,000 and the down payment is 10%.

$0.10 \times 200{,}000 = 20{,}000$

Step 2: Find the loan amount before closing costs

$200{,}000 - 20{,}000 = 180{,}000$

Step 3: Calculate closing costs

From the table:

• Credit report = $100
• Loan origination fee = 1% of the loan amount
• Attorney and notary = $500
• Documentation stamp = $0.005
• Processing fee = $500

The loan origination fee is:

$0.01 \times 180{,}000 = 1{,}800$

Now add all closing costs:

$100 + 1{,}800 + 500 + 0.005 + 500 = 2{,}900.005$

Step 4: Add closing costs to the loan amount

$180{,}000 + 2{,}900.005 = 182{,}900.005$

Answer

$\boxed{182{,}900.005}$

If your class expects money rounded to the nearest cent, that would be:

$\boxed{182{,}900.01}$

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Pitfalls the pros know 👇 A common mistake is using 1% of the full purchase price instead of 1% of the mortgage amount after the down payment. Another one is forgetting whether the problem wants the loan amount, the total amount financed, or the full amount including fees. The tiny $0.005 fee also gets missed often if you round too early.

What if the problem changes? If the loan origination fee were based on the purchase price instead, then it would be $2,000 rather than$1,800, and the final total would be $183,100.005 before rounding. If the down payment were 20$160,000, which would also lower the percentage-based fee.

Tags: down payment, closing costs, loan origination fee