Buyers: Here’s How to Save Up to $1,000 on Closing Costs

Seems like Groundhog Day around here lately. Nearly every day, I receive a call and have a conversation with a prospective homebuyer that goes something like this…

Homebuyer: “Hello, I just got a quote from your website and was hoping you could confirm that your quote for settlement fees was accurate – because it’s about $1,000 less than my agent’s title company.”

Me: “Yes, I can confirm that our quote is accurate and guaranteed. You have a right to shop and choose your own title company. You’re not required to use your agent’s title company.”

Homebuyer: “Well, the problem is that the contract has already been signed and my agent wrote in the name of her title company without me realizing it, so I guess I’m stuck using that title company, huh? I’ll remember you guys next time.”

It begins, more often than not, with the homebuyer signing a sales contract prepared by their agent, with the settlement agent field pre-populated naming the agent’s preferred title company, and a “RESPA Controlled/Affiliated Business” disclosure buried in the contract forms abyss at about page 46 of 50.

It ends with the homebuyer becoming captive to a choice they were denied as the consumer.

Todd Ewing

Todd Ewing is an entrepreneur and attorney. After receiving his law degree from Drake University, Ewing left his home state of Iowa for opportunity in the Capital Region.He launched Federal Title & Escrow Company in 1996. The company that began on a piece of plywood strewn across a couple of sawhorses in a tiny office in Tenleytown had a unique premise: Give back to homebuyers what other title companies kick back to their referral sources.The innovative REALCredit™ distinguished Federal Title from its competitors and helped move Federal Title to the top echelon of independent title companies in the United States.A perennial trail blazer, over the years Ewing has also introduced one of the title industry’s first paperless closing workflows and a mobile app known as Close It! that was first to pinpoint for buyers, sellers and agents exactly how much cash would traverse the closing table during settlement.Ewing is an active outdoorsman who enjoys golf as well as hunting and fishing.

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