Besides real estate commissions, title insurance fees represent one of the more onerous charges homeowners or buyers face when they refinance, sell a home or buy a home. When a person sells a home, they usually pay for an owner’s title policy. This policy benefits the buyer. Although the buyer does no usually pay for the owner’s title policy, they still have to pay for a lender’s title policy, unless they pay all cash. Interest rates today continue to fall and probably will stay there for a while. When refinancing the home owner has to buy title insurance all over again. Refi’s now account for about 77% of all mortgage applications, according o the Mortgage Bankers Assn. Title insurance is basically a way in assure buyers that they are buying a home without and defects and any liens. If you are refinancing it assures the lender that you still own your home and that no one has placed a lien on the property. A 2005 study by the State Dept of Insurance concludes that title insurers rake in “excessive profit” and that a “reasonable degree of competition does not exist”. Owners that are refinancing have a hard time understanding why they have to pay a full title fee again, especially when a short time has elapsed from the original purchase. Sellers, Buyers and refinancers should shop around. Sellers and buyers will probably be influenced by the real estate agent on which title company to use, but they need to do a little leg work on their own. It could save them hundreds of dollars. Buyers need to think about title insurance before they make an offer on a home. They can bet that the seller will have their own ideas on what title company to use and will on many occasions insist that it be in the contract to purchase. Buyers need to know what title company to use is negotiable between the seller and buyer. Sellers can’t ram it down the buyer’s throat. Below are 2 links. The first one is for Entitle Direct. They say that they can lower title costs by 35%. The other link gives the ability to compare different title companies and the cost of title insurance based on an estimated purchase price or loan amount if refinancing.

Entitle Direct

Title Wizard