When buying a home, you will find yourself making tons of comparisons. In addition to comparing builders, land, paint, type of wood, mortgage loans, real estate agents, insurance premiums, and more, you will also find that you need to compare escrow fees. Unfortunately, many buyers believe that escrow fees are established by law. The result is the homebuyer does not add these fees into their search for costs associated with closing.
In truth, escrow fees are usually not regulated by law or even by state statute. Instead, you will find these fees established by the actual escrow company. Typically, most states have independent escrow companies that fall under the guidelines of the Department of Corporations. Then, the price associated with escrow fees is not limited, meaning charges will vary dramatically. However, the fee charged is usually comparative in areas.
In most cases, the escrow fees are more in larger cities, costing from $150 and up, sometimes even as high as $500 or more, which would depend largely on the involvement of the specific transaction, property purchase price, and even property location. Since escrow fees vary not just from state to state but also county to county and city to city, you want to do all you can to save money. For this reason, we suggest you use the internet to shop for escrow fees.
In addition to being extremely effective, efficient, and convenient, online shopping also means you get the chance to see more escrow companies where you live, thus having the opportunity to compare prices better. Once you locate a number of reputable companies, we suggest you schedule time to discuss the types of services you need and the cost for the escrow fees. One of the frustrating aspects of shopping around for escrow fees offline is the waiting process for answers but when you use the power of the internet, many times you will get an answer almost immediately.
Sometimes, online escrow companies will post fees while other companies request that you provide certain information. Once the information is provided to the escrow company, you would receive an answer quickly, often within 24 hours. Finally, remember that some fees associated with the escrow are negotiable to include the document preparation fee, notary fee, and the power of attorney. Therefore, you should talk to the company about these miscellaneous fees to see what kind of bargain you can get.