What is Section I on a Loan Estimate?

Updated November 2026 · Every dollar figure is an illustrative example, not a quote

Section I, Total Other Costs, is a sum: Section E (government recording fees and transfer taxes), F (prepaid insurance, interest and taxes), G (the escrow deposit) and H (everything else you pay that the lender does not require). It is the cost of becoming the owner and starting the escrow account, as opposed to the cost of the loan in Section D, and it is mostly the same whoever lends.

Where it is on the form

Page 2, at the bottom of the right-hand column, under Other Costs, as I. TOTAL OTHER COSTS (E + F + G + H), with the sum beside it. Directly below it, Section J adds D and I together.

Illustrative rangeCommonly $4,000–$12,000 on a $380,000 loan; swings with the state's transfer tax and the closing date

The escrow deposit and the year of insurance are the bulk in a low-tax state; transfer taxes can double it in a high-tax city. A refinance usually has a smaller I: no transfer tax, no owner's policy, and often a smaller escrow deposit.

Paid toNobody: it is the total of E, F, G and H

Can you shop for it?Sometimes

Can it change at closing?Depends on the line: The lines inside follow their own rules

I is the section that makes two Loan Estimates look further apart than they are. Two lenders quoting the same house will show different I totals because one assumed a closing on the 3rd and a $2,400 policy and the other the 27th and $1,600. Neither is cheaper; they guessed differently. How to compare two Loan Estimates explains why the rate plus Section A is the fair comparison.

What I is good for is planning cash. Add it to D, subtract any lender credit, and you have Section J, the total closing costs. Then the Calculating Cash to Close table adds the down payment and subtracts your deposit and any seller credits to reach the figure you actually bring.

Can you shop for it?

Only the parts that are yours: the insurance policy, the closing date, the title company for the owner's policy, the inspector. The government fees and the escrow arithmetic are fixed. None of it is the lender's price, so a second lender does not change it.

Can it change between the Loan Estimate and closing?

Mostly no limit. F, G and H are outside the tolerance rules. E is the exception: recording fees sit in the 10% group and transfer taxes have zero tolerance. An increase in I between the Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure is usually the real insurance quote, the real closing date or a new H line, not a violation.

Questions to ask the lender

What closing date and insurance premium did you assume, since those drive most of Section I?
Which Section H costs do you know about and which have you not been told?
On a refinance: is there any transfer or mortgage tax in this state in Section E?

Red flags

A Section I that is far lower on one estimate than another for the same house, used to make that lender's cash to close look better.
Transfer taxes in E that rise at closing with no change to the price.
An insurance premium assumption far below real quotes in the area.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between Section D and Section I?

D is the cost of the loan: the lender's charges and the required services. I is the cost of owning: government fees, prepaids, the escrow deposit and your own optional costs. D differs between lenders; I mostly does not.

Can Section I change at closing?

Largely yes. Sections F, G and H have no tolerance limit, so the real insurance quote, closing date and any new costs replace the estimates. Section E is the exception: recording fees within 10%, transfer taxes not at all.

Why is Section I so large?

Usually the escrow deposit and the year of insurance, which are your own money going into your own account and your own policy, plus transfer taxes in states that have them. It is not what the loan costs; Section D is.

Only have one quote? That's the problem.

Tell us the rate and the fees you were quoted. It is free, there is no credit pull, and nobody calls you. We check whether another lender beats it, fees included. Or start with the free Loan Estimate checker, which reads your rate, points and Section A and flags anything out of the ordinary.

Check my quote

Every dollar figure on this page is illustrative. Fee ranges are general observations, not a survey or a quote, and are not a loan offer, approval, commitment to lend, or Loan Estimate. Your actual rates and fees depend on qualification with lenders, your state and county, and your closing date. The tolerance rules described are the federal TRID rules in general terms; the rule itself and your own Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure decide how it applies to your loan. comparemyloan does not negotiate with lenders, lock rates, or take loan applications.