A gift to the U.S. government and a processing fee in the amounts published on the official program page, confirmed on the day of the decision. Discounting a receivable to raise the money is a further cost.
The discount is part of the price
The two payments behave differently. The processing fee pays for handling the application and is ordinarily not returned if the application does not succeed. The gift is a transfer to the U.S. government and is never recovered in any circumstance at all. Establish from the official material which amount is charged per person and which covers a household, and what happens if one member is refused. Then add the cost of raising the money. Selling or discounting a vendor take-back mortgage means accepting less than face value, and the discount can be substantial where the term is long. Tax on the sale of the land may also fall due earlier than planned. Those costs belong in the comparison and are routinely left out of it.
Hypothetical example: a fire-alarm contractor can raise the stated amount only by selling equipment at a discount before the busy season. The first review should compare the government-program payment, the handling charge, transaction costs, tax effects, and the economic cost of releasing funds now. The official terms settle what is due to the government; sale agreements and tax advice settle the cost of liquidity. The applicant pays the program amount directly to the U.S. government, and it is not a recoverable investment. Sequence the financial analysis before entering a sale contract, so the family knows the net funds available. The recurring error is treating an asset's appraised value as cash. A payment plan, a lender's consent requirement, or a distressed sale discount can change whether the option is realistic at all.