Two small but genuinely useful additions just shipped in the Closing Costs Calculator. Itemized rows now carry a Negotiable or Fixed badge, and the seller view has a new optional line for moving costs. Here's exactly what changed and how to use each one.
What actually changed
Quick answerTwo features just landed in the Closing Costs Calculator: (1) every itemized fee row in the buyer and seller results now carries a small "Negotiable" or "Fixed" badge, and (2) the seller view has a new optional moving-cost line item you can toggle on to fold an estimated moving expense into your net-proceeds figure. Neither changes how any core fee is calculated — both are new ways to read the same numbers.
If you've used the calculator before, the layout will look familiar — same tabs, same price and state fields, same itemized card at the bottom. What's different is what you see once you hit "Calculate": each line in the dokum-style breakdown now has a small colored pill next to it, and if you're on the seller tab, there's a fresh toggle waiting inside the "Optional — include moving costs" panel that wasn't there before.
The Negotiable vs. Fixed badge, line by line
Quick answerEach itemized row — origination fee, appraisal, title insurance, recording fees, transfer tax, and so on — is now labeled either Negotiable or Fixed. Negotiable lines are the ones tied to a company or term you can influence (which lender, which title company, whether a credit gets negotiated). Fixed lines are government-set amounts, like recording fees and transfer tax, that stay the same no matter who you hire.
The badge itself doesn't touch your total. It's purely a labeling layer sitting on top of the same underlying math the calculator has always used — enter a price and state, and the dollar figures come out exactly as before. What's new is that instead of scanning nine unlabeled line items and guessing which ones are worth a phone call, you can now tell at a glance which rows are shoppable and which ones are locked in by statute.
- Typically badged Negotiable: loan origination fee, title/settlement charges, owner's title insurance (in states where shopping is allowed) — these depend on which company you choose.
- Typically badged Fixed: recording fees and real estate transfer tax — these are set by state or county statute and don't move based on your lender or title company.
Why this is useful in practice: say you're reviewing a buyer estimate on a $350,000 home (a hypothetical example) and see the origination fee badged Negotiable while the transfer tax line is badged Fixed. That's your cue to spend time getting a second Loan Estimate from another lender for the origination fee — and to stop trying to talk your county down on transfer tax, since that number simply isn't moving.
The seller-view moving-cost toggle
Quick answerSwitch to the seller tab and open the "Optional — include moving costs" panel. Flip the "Add estimated moving costs" switch on, and a new field appears where you type in your own estimated moving cost (movers, truck rental, packing supplies). That figure now factors into the seller's total costs and the net-proceeds estimate shown in the result card.
Moving costs have never been a formal line item on a real Closing Disclosure, and this calculator doesn't try to compute one for you — there's no formula that would make sense across a studio apartment move across town versus a five-bedroom cross-country relocation. Instead, the toggle gives you a plain editable field, pre-filled with a modest placeholder amount, that you can adjust to whatever's realistic for your situation.
What makes this genuinely useful rather than just decorative is where it plugs in: once you turn it on and enter a number, it's added into the seller's cost total and reflected in the estimated net-proceeds figure — the "cash in pocket after everything" number sellers care about most. Toggle it back off and the calculator reverts to the standard closing-cost-only view.
Good to know: the toggle is off by default, so if you skip it entirely, your seller results look exactly like they always have — commission, transfer tax share, payoff, and net proceeds with no moving figure mixed in. It's purely opt-in.
Trying both features together
The two features live in different parts of the tool but work well together. Start on the buyer tab and glance at the Negotiable/Fixed badges to decide where it's worth shopping around before you lock in a lender. Then switch to the seller tab, toggle on the moving-cost line, and enter a rough estimate to see how it nudges your projected net proceeds. Neither step takes more than a few seconds, and both are optional — the calculator's core itemized math hasn't changed underneath either one.
Frequently asked questions
What do the Negotiable and Fixed badges mean in the itemized breakdown?
Each itemized line in your buyer or seller results now shows a small badge marking it as either Negotiable or Fixed. Negotiable means the fee is typically set by a company you can shop for or a term you and the other party can agree on — think loan origination or a seller credit. Fixed means the amount is set by government statute or is otherwise essentially non-negotiable, like recording fees or real estate transfer tax.
Does the Negotiable/Fixed badge change my total estimate?
No. The badge is a label, not a calculation input — it doesn't add, remove, or adjust any dollar amount. Your total closing costs and cash-to-close figures are calculated exactly the same way as before; the badge simply helps you see at a glance which lines might be worth negotiating or shopping around on.
How do I turn on the moving-cost line item?
Switch to the seller tab, then open the "Optional — include moving costs" panel and toggle "Add estimated moving costs" on. A field appears where you can type your own estimated moving cost, which is then added into the seller's total costs and reflected in the net-proceeds figure.
Is the moving-cost figure calculated for me, or do I enter it myself?
You enter it yourself. Moving costs aren't a standard real estate fee with a formula behind them — they depend on distance, home size, and whether you hire movers or rent a truck — so the calculator gives you an editable field (pre-filled with a placeholder amount) rather than trying to estimate it for you.
Is the moving-cost toggle available on the buyer side too?
No, it's currently only in the seller view, under the same advanced panel as the optional moving-cost toggle. Buyer costs focus on financing and closing-related fees; moving costs were added to the seller side specifically to help sellers see a more complete "cash in pocket" figure alongside commission and payoff.