Comments on: Questions to Ask About Your Settlement Statement

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:05:21 +0000

1. Always negotiate your fees. They are always higher then they need to be.

2. Your appraisal fee in ca should be $350 unless you have a very high loan amount.

3. Your notary fee should be around $150

4. A $100 email doc fee is ridiculous!

5. They have a fed ex accout and it costs them about $8-$12 to send a fex ex not $25

Good Luck!

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:55:04 +0000

Thanks guys for letting me know the 411! I’ll definitely ask about the fees, any money saved would be greatly appreciated.

My husband was surprised about the amount of fees, so he’s definitely calling and emailing them to get some answers. I’ll update you guys on how it turns out!

By: Bargain babe

Bargain babe — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:52:25 +0000

The two things I remember from buying my first home, a condo, in 2003, was that the closing costs were a LOT more than we expected when we initially budgeted. If I remember correctly we ended up paying close to $6,000 in closing costs, including a fee the state of NJ charged for the privilege of buying a home!

The second thing was that I learned after the purchase that you can negotiate almost all the fees associated with the purchase. I wished I had read more about what every fee was for and had more leverage to negotiate. I have negotiated for many, many small purchases (small by comparison, any way) and it always helps to have information to back up your case, an alternative so the merchant knows you can walk away, and a positive attitude.

By: JamesR

JamesR — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:07:09 +0000

When arranging for closing time at the closing company, ask what the charges are for going through the closing process after normal business hours (9 to 5).

We got burned by this! We signed off on a refi at a title company in the evening after we had gotten home from work. It might have been around 6pm or so. They really socked it to us for that little “convenience”.

Furthermore, our mortgage broker never saw fit to mention this to us nor did he help us in any way to reduce, eliminate or reimburse us for the obnoxious fee.

By: financia

financia — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:42:40 +0000

I recently re-financed and had two questions about the closing cost I was paying.

So I asked the questions the first one saved me $25 and the second one saved me $125! $150 in one 3 minute phone call – not life changing but it was still money saved.

By: Kevin@OutOfYourRut

Kevin@OutOfYourRut — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:41:59 +0000

Laura, good article!

The basic problem with closing costs, good faith estimates (GFE), settlement statements and all things related to buying a house is that the whole process has gotten plain convoluted.

I was in the mortgage business for many years, and there was a general trend toward complication. A college educated person without mortgage experience would have difficulty deciphering a good faith estimate and settlement statement; a lot of real estate agents can’t figure them out either.

The numbers they contain don’t mean much unless you can measure them against those provided by several other lenders to see what normal even looks like. It would be worth paying a couple hundred extra to have your attorney review the GFE shortly after application and the settlement statement before closing.

One other thing–on title insurance, you should get your own and not rely on the lenders coverage. The lenders title ultimately will protect you from title defects, but since it’s the lenders policy it could take months to clear up any liens, and you won’t be able to provide a clear title on sale or for a refinance until it’s resolved. If you have your own policy, you don’t need to worry even if a lien is discovered after closing.

The closing attorney will recommend the coverage at closing, and it’s usually $200-400 extra, but it’s money well spent. This is one of those times when it won’t pay to be frugal!!!

By: Bodark

Bodark — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:16:00 +0000

Assuming one is closing at a Title Company (e.g. a third party vendor who works with buyer/seller to handle the administrative side of Real Estate transaction), I’ve found you have 3 choices:
1) Haggle every fee on the HUD-1. You may very well save $100 to $500.
2) Pay sticker on all the fees. This gives you the right to say “Not my problem, I’ll see you at closing date”. I’ve found this useful when your schedule is full with working and trying to live life.
3) Do nothing – pay fees, get run around by the seller, RE Agents, Title Company, Insurance guy, etc.. This is not a preferred choice, but still a valid outcome.

Finally for your consideration, my experience has been. “He who won’t shush and go away – gets service”

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:08:25 +0000

Always ask to get a copy of you HUD-1 before your closing date to have time to review it. You’ll have to call your closing agent a few days before closing and ask to recurve a copy of all documents 24hrs in advance. This will give you additional time to review everything with the pressure of time.