Yesterday I got a call from one of my favorite clients. He purchased a home about two years ago and had decided to refinance at a lower mortgage rate. Before he signed the final papers this morning, he wanted to ask me a couple of questions.
The first thing I asked him to do was to email me the HUD-1, which it the form that lays out all of the money - where it comes from and where it goes.
Right off the bat, I noticed two bright red flags waving in the breeze.
The title company's fee was more than twice what is customary for this area - about $550 higher.
Also, instead of reissuing his two year old title insurance policy, they were trying to sell him a brand new one for way more money.
So I had him call the lender and insist that they work it out with the title company that they were insisting that he use. After two rounds of back and forth, price for the fees and title insurance got adjusted, at a savings of $1585.92!
After settlement, you should feel free to call on your agent for help in this kind of situation. I think that with refinances, some of the title companies that get the bank referrals take advantage of the fact that you probably won't have an agent at your elbow when you sign the papers.
Favorite Buyer and I have a date for dinner at a very nice restaurant for Sunday night!
P.S. If you are in the DC area and can't reach your agent, I'd be happy to look over your HUD-1 before you sign any refinance closing papers.
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