Buyers & Sellers Articles Media Hits
Federal Title in the news
By choosing your own settlement team, you can save big
Attention homebuyers and refinancing homeowners: By choosing your own settlement team, you can save big at closing. Here at Federal Title we want everyone to know, which is why when we aren't saving our clients as much as $1,100 at settlement we are talking to local newspapers, Internet bloggers and other websites that will share our message. Press inquiries, please e-mail our This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 | The cost of buying, revisited We calculated the closing costs using Federal Title’s Quick Quote calculator. |
 | Tax liens promising 18% returns may be a case of ‘buyer beware’ Some certificate buyers have seen their investments go underwater, meaning the value of the liens exceeds the value of the real estate, as property values have declined, said John Reid, an attorney with Tobin, O’Connor & Ewing in Washington. |
 | Shop for title insurance and closing services [Federal Title's Joe] Gentile says some title companies are affiliated with a particular real estate brokerage, so he suggests asking for recommendations that include at least one company that is not affiliated with the brokerage to compare prices and services. |
 | Shop and save on title, closing services Homeowners who are refinancing may qualify for a reissue rate on their title insurance. Joseph Gentile, vice president of Federal Title & Escrow Co., in Washington, D.C., says refinancers can save as much as 40 percent of the premium in his market. Savings might be more or less than that in other markets. |
 | New DC title insurance shortcomings Shopping for title services could save D.C. homeowners up to $1,180 per closing, according to an independent study commissioned by Federal Title. That same study concluded that Maryland and Virginia consumers could save up to $900 per transaction when permitted to comparison shop for title services. |
 | A title insurance tradition coming undone A handful of agents in states where regulations permit discounts off closing-packages are now offering them. Plus growing numbers of title agencies are gearing up software platforms to provide services to consumers that have long been standard in other industries: online rate quotes, transaction updates notifying customers about the status of their title order. |
| | New refinancing options for lower title fees In the Washington area, Federal Title & Escrow provides as much as to $1,000 off total closing costs for home buyers who use its online "Real Credit" software platform for their transactions. |
 | Shopping for title services can save you a bundle "The best way to look for a settlement company is to check their website, because a good company will be transparent and put their charges online," says [Todd] Ewing. "Customers can always ask for discount, which they may or may not get." |
 | Shop to save on title services Mr. Ewing suggests that consumers Google a phrase, such as "title companies in Northern Virginia or D.C. or Maryland," to compare the websites of various companies before choosing a title company. Another option is Closing.com, a website that allows consumers to compare title costs from various companies online. |
| Sponsored: 10 things you should know about closing costs Closing costs will inevitably take a large bite out of your wallet at the settlement table — anywhere from a few to several thousand dollars. The information in this article from Federal Title will help you better understand closing costs and teach you the right questions to ask your title or real estate agent. |
 | Local competitors question outcome of title fee study Ewing also commented that Federal Title commissioned the study to get a true "apples-to-apples comparison without the benefit of a reissue rate savings. The difference in pricing among area competitors is largely a function of each company's perspective. Many title companies consider their referral sources to be captive audiences who will not price haggle on behalf of their homebuyers," Ewing said. |
| | Get the refi the lender promised Todd Ewing, founder and president of Federal Title & Escrow Co., in Washington, D.C., says "Consumers should hold their lender and title company accountable for getting the HUD-1 statement to them before the settlement, at least one day in advance, in order to give them time to read and understand it." |
 | District holding fire sale on property liens Buying a lien is generally viewed as an investment, said Tobin, O'Connor & Ewing real estate lawyer John E. Reid. The city gets paid the money it's owned, property owners eventually pay back their taxes, and the new lien holder gets to keep the interest. |
| | Closing on your home: Are you walking in blind? "Buyers should not expect any surprises at the settlement as long as they have carefully reviewed their Good Faith Estimate (GFE), shopped for their title services and compared written estimates of closing costs," says Todd Ewing, president of Federal Title and Escrow Co. in Washington, D.C. |
| | Buying a home? Shop around for title insurance It may not seem like that much when you put that number next to the $400,000 you're going to owe the bank. But when you're paying those up-front closing costs, it can help ease that immediate burden. The difference in title expenses can come from different charges for settlement fees, title insurance and lender origination, according to Todd Ewing, president of Federal Title. |
 | Title insurance explained Home owners need title insurance. I have seen my share of title issues and they are no fun. They can be expensive and, as this video shows, it could mean being without a house that you thought you bought. |
| | DC's foreclosure investigation freezes home sales for months Todd Ewing, president of Federal Title & Escrow Co., said the attorney general's investigation into the filing process behind D.C. foreclosures led insurance underwriters to believe the risk of insuring the title on a foreclosed home would be too high. |
| | Seller financing rare but can be successful Seller financing, in which the home sellers arrange for mortgage payments to be made directly to them instead of to a bank, is a rarely used method of buying a home. Joseph Gentile, vice president of Federal Title & Escrow Co. in the District, says that less than .05 percent of the company’s settlements involve seller financing. |
| | Who owns the foreclosure you bought? Joseph Gentile, an attorney and vice president of Federal Title & Escrow Co. in Washington, D.C., says a wrongful foreclosure is the perfect example of why homebuyers should buy owner's title insurance. |
| | Take protective steps when buying a foreclosure One area of future uncertainty is how title insurance companies will handle insuring these properties going forward. "The current title insurance company will continue to insure the title on the property, but it is a possibility that when the home is sold, a new title insurance policy would be more difficult to obtain," Gentile says. |
| | Agents hone marketing tactics for lenders, consumer relationships [Federal Title] has built trust by establishing itself as a source for information, working on the back end to ensure that its Web site and blog are easily found through Google searches, especially as younger generations continue to do research online before ever picking up the phone to call a provider. |
 | Mad dash as homebuyer tax credit deadline arrives At his Washington, D.C., office, Todd Ewing, the founder of the Federal Title and Escrow Co., guides a couple through the closing process. He passes them document after document to sign. Ewing says he'll be doing a lot of that Wednesday. "Basically, we are triple-booked on the hour every hour starting at 9," Ewing says. |
| | Aggressive home pricing = Multiple bids Nikki Smith of Federal Title and Escrow read my previous blog post about pricing your home to sell now or sell later. She offered up a great article from the Wall Street Journal which reinforces what most Realtors tell their home seller clients all the time. |
| | Is it time to breathe new life into your website? Nikki Smith, marketing director for Federal Title & Escrow in Washington, D.C., said that when she was hired by the agency in 2009, its Web site was about 10 years old, consisted of entirely static pages and made the company appear outdated. "Your Web site makes a very strong impression. If your Web site looks stuffy or antiquated, it might make your business look the same way. Your Web site has to make a good first impression," she said. |
| | RESPA pushes title companies to provide new tool to lenders Todd Ewing, president of Federal Title & Escrow Co. in Washington, D.C., has provide lenders with a calculator since 1999, but soon realized that the technology would need to be refined to comport with the RESPA final rule. "As soon as they announced the new regulation was forthcoming, I immediately recognized that lenders were going to rely upon title companies more heavily to provide an accurate quote for title services as well as the transfer recordation taxes," Ewing said. |
| | DC's Federal Title launches new website "We were the first title company to disseminate information online, including instant guaranteed quotes for title service, and now we're expanding on what we started," said Todd Ewing, Federal Title president. |
| | Federal Title provides GFE quote guarantee Lenders navigating new RESPA rule are being encouraged to rely upon the accuracy of Washington, D.C.-based Federal Title & Escrow Co.'s online quote system to prepare their Good Faith Estimate (GFE) forms: "Our online quote is accurate to the penny, or we'll pay the difference," company President Todd Ewing said. |
| | Settlement rules set to change Jan. 1 "The new RESPA rules will have a tremendous impact on the way consumers pick their service providers when they buy a home,” said Todd Ewing, president of Federal Title & Escrow Co. in the District. “The impetus for the change was consumer complaints about surprises at the closing table." |
| | Title company's unique anti-AfBA business model pays off Federal Title's REAL Credit program is simple: If title work is ordered through the company's Web site, the consumer receives a credit that reduces the overall cost. Just like AfBAs, which caused the company to lose a good chunk of its revenue to the referral source, this program comes at a loss to Federal Title — but one not linked to a conflict of interest. |
 | Video review: Understanding closing and settlement costs Rather than a detailed step-by-step dissertation on title and escrow – which many consumers really need before the home buying begins – the two-minute Federal Title & Escrow Co. video is useful as a primer to get you into the basics of the process. "This video describes the settlement process in laymen's terms," says Nikki Smith, marketing director Federal Title & Escrow Company. |
Press inquiries please e-mail our This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 202-274-1517.
