title insurance

I have some general guidance. If your broker recommends anyone for anything, dont use that person.

Entitledirect.com great service huge savings, same coverage

I wouldn't go with the one your lawyer recommends either. It is the real estates #1 kick back scheme. I once had a broker and lawyer argue who was going to recommend the title insurance guy.

+1 for EntitleDirect

JM you are correct. The way it works is that all title co's go by published rates, which they all adhere to. Entitle simply publishes a lower rate by cutting out the commission. Which is a huge percentage of the cost. No one was willing to do this until Entitle. After verifying, my attorney said go with them. We are going to have a lot of pissed off title companies but thats business.

Royal Abstact in New York. They will give you a quote before you hire them.

Ellen Silverman
Mortgage Broker
Real Estate Broker

You should have your attorney get an estimate from their prefered title company based on what searches and endorsements counsel wants and then get a quote from the other title company. Prices will probably be pretty close but I think some of the search charges are different depending on the company.

My take is they are providing the same fungible service so take the cheaper of the two.

In case you didn't know, protocol dictates that you also tip the title agent at closing. Amount varies but I think $100 is on the low end of the range.

thanks so much!
realestatejunkie - tip the title agent? really?

yes tip the title agent. They have a habit of making mistakes if their pockets are empty

No, don't tip. They don't make said mistakes, and if they did you'd report them to the State.

I was amazed when I was told I had to pay a title agent "fee". It took a few moments of discussion to learn that it wasn't a real fee, but a traditional "tip". And then again when we refinanced.

New York real estate is in the dark ages with respect to transparency and service-levels. It is shocking how this city tolerates such high levels of corruption and low levels of service...

Title insurance needed for houses and condos only, but not co-ops.....correct?

right

probably doesn't make sense but jf buying a condo and no mortgage has anyone considered self insuring?

According to the insurance dept, quoting insurance rates lower than statue, as entitle direct, is illegal

There is a form of title insurance for co-op units that some attorneys recommend for smaller buildings, especially if there is any evidence of shoddy recordkeeping.

As the CIO of ENTITLE DIRECT, I would like to thank those who have commented positively on our service in this thread; we very much appreciate your feedback and business.

I would like to address the comment made by realRE that "quoting insurance rates lower than statue, as entitle direct, is illegal". This comment is not accurate but represents a common misunderstanding regarding title insurance; New York (and many other states) do not mandate title insurance rates via statute. New York is considered a Rating Bureau state, which means that a cooperative group of title insurance carriers called a Rating Bureau receive permission from the state to file the same set of rates; in other words, these carriers have agreed not to compete on rates with each other. Other carriers who are not part of the Rating Bureau are free to file their own set of rates to be approved by the state, and that is precisely what ENTITLE DIRECT has done in order to offer substantial cost savings directly to consumers.

Fred Kauber
CIO, ENTITLE DIRECT