fishy home closing cost in houston, tx

Yes, indeed, something is fishy. Assuming the realtor provides full service and taxes are typical, it should cost around 20k - 25k, no more. Another way to look at it: Normally, taxes and closing costs should come to a few thousand. Lets make it $5000, which is probably too much. That means that the real estate agent/broker would be getting a commission of 35/304, or 11.5%. Yes, that is way too much. You and your sister should get legal advice. A few hundred paid to a lawyer could save you thousands.

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One possibility if she has a sub-prime mortgage, there may be some early payoff penalty. Soemof these were outrageous. The closing statement should break out all the costs.

-------------------------------------- Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to which we respond. For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM THE MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on the Newsgroup.