- Dennis Norman
In the past I think closing costs associated with the purchase of a home were pretty much a mystery to many, if not most, home buyers with many not even being sure what they were paying for. Most buyers simply went through the process, paying for closing fees, notary fees, title examination, title insurance, survey, flood letters, courier fees, recording fees, etc. without ever realizing that these fees and costs may vary with other vendors.
Home buyers can go to their website, fill in the address of the property you are buying, answer a few questions and not only get a detailed estimate of their house payments as well as closing costs but also see quotes for various services from local companies (such as title insurance, home warranties, etc) and then print out a report. While I’m not sure how many different vendors they have quotes from in various areas, I tried it for an address in St Louis, Missouri and found the following:-
47 title companies listed with prices from 6
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10 home warranty companies with prices from 8
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28 home inspection companies with prices from 13
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17 pest control companies with prices from 3
As I looked over the “quotes” for the various services I found several disclaimers, basically nothing is binding of course, but I do think this gives a buyer a good idea of the range of prices they should expect as well as gives them a list of various vendors in their area they can consider. In addition it provides short explanations of each service such as this description of title insurance which, while it is short, I think it does a decent job of explaining what it is:
Title Insurance protects property owners and lenders from losses that could result from disputes over who actually owns the property. This could include fraud, liens against the property, or errors missed during a title search.
Authors disclaimer: This is not an endorsement of Closing.Com nor recommendation or warranty, expressed or implied. It is simply an editorial review of the site. Realize that general and generic information from this site or any other like it is just that, general and generic. Consult your real estate professional to assist you in getting information specific to your situation.
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Thanks Cindi!
Wonderful post! We fully enjoyed this way of seeing things – very clear and concise, precisely what my spouse and I like
i enjoyed the article, you have a nice blog.
I think this service is great. It would be better if the benefits of each service is explained. I’ve run across so many people who don’t get a boundary survey before they buy and then find out that a neighbor tells them the boundary of their property is somewhere other than where the real estate agent or previous property owner tells them resulting in a costly boundary dispute and hard feelings between new neighbors.
We all dislike insurance firms, only where would we be without them.