Most expensive financial fees for 2006 released today (part 4)

December 22, 2006

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Real Estate Fees

Mysterious closing costs

Junk closing costs are a big upset to many home buyers as they seem to pop up out of nowhere or at the last minute. These fees are no friend to debt free lifestyle achievers. These fees are sometimes called vague names such as processing fees and document preparation fees. You may be a debt free article reader who has seen an administrative fees or messenger fee show up on your closing paperwork. How about the document review fee? These are all absurd really. If you want to achieve a better debt free status you will want to be on the lookout for these frivolous fees. According to the report that was released today, more people paid these fees without understanding them or even knowing they were there at all. The majority of people buying homes that questioned these fees had the fees removed at no cost. So, home buyers who know about these fees had them removed a majority of the time. Although lenders and have to give you a good faith estimate of loan costs within 3 days of getting your application, they do not have to stick to it – so be aware. These fees add hundreds and hundreds of dollars to your closing costs. We recommend that you have a professional such as a real estate attorney check your closing papers. Honestly, the money you pay the attorney will pay for itself in closing cost savings alone. Also, right from the beginning, tell your realtor an attorney will be reviewing the papers – this will be some help to you by deterring these sneaky fees in the first place. According to the report, home buyers who had an attorney review their closing costs and closing paperwork saved hundreds of dollars on top of the attorney fee.

Title insurance

Every time you get a new mortgage, you have to purchase title insurance. According to the study released today, this is the most outrageous fee in the real estate section of the report. Even though today’s technology has made property searches easier to do, the cost of title insurance has not declined much at all. This is a pesky fee and virtually needless due to today’s technology. According to the news today, regulators need to try harder to question the validity of these fees. Do they get in the way of competitive pricing? Debt free article readers believe so. The study shows an average cost of $800 for this insurance and there are reports of fees as high as $1,100. Shop the best price – do not take the word of your broker.

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