What questions to ask to find out their “total” fees and charges to you when looking to purchase a home?
Nowadays, New Jersey home buyers are always looking for the best deal and price. Who isn’t? They usually call several New Jersey Mortgage lenders to find out who has the best rates and lowest fees. That is another topic I will cover shortly about the proper way to do so.
This topic is focusing on how to properly choose the right attorney and title insurance company. Most often times, the only question a New Jersey home buyer would ask an attorney is, “What is your attorney fee?”. What most people do not understand is that is just the tip of the iceberg when trying to find out what are their“actual fees and costs .
In New Jersey, the average attorney fee ranges from $750-$1200 for a home purchase transaction. But they often have many other fees/charges that you will not find out until you are sitting at the closing table looking over the final HUD (all closing costs associated with your mortgage).
Some questions you should ask your attorney/title company are:
1) What other fees will I have to pay besides your attorney fee?
2) Do you charge Title Exam fees, Title review fees, etc ?
3) What are the recording fees? Attorneys in New Jersey are permitted to “overinflate” the recording fees. The average recording fee for a typical home purchase in New Jersey is about $250. I have seen recording fees in excess of $500 from attorneys.
4) How much do you charge for email fees/overnight fees/photocopy fees/courier fees/wire fees, and any other miscellaneous fees?
5) Do you charge a doc prep fee?
6) Do I actually need to order a survey? Most often times it is up to the investor that you are using if they “require” a survey to close your New Jersey Mortgage loan. Most often times, they DO NOT. But most attorneys do not take the responsibility to call your mortgage lender to see if they require a survey. That phone call most often times can you save up to $700 if a survey is not required. If it is not required, it would be up to the home buyer to decide if they want to order a survey.
TIP:You should use the same approach when comparing lenders by asking for a Good Faith Estimate to see all their fees. Ask your attorney to see a breakdown of ALL their fees. You might be surprised at what they total too and they might be thrown off guard wondering how you knew about all these “other” fees.
Also remember YOU always have the choice to choose which title company you wish to work with. You will ALWAYS save money by using the title company your mortgage lender uses because they often have lower fees because they receive so much business from that mortgage lender that they extend those lower fees to you.
The attorney will usually always try to steer you into using his title company but remember that is YOUR choice not his. Keep in mind, the attorney works for YOU!
If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me
Written by
John Mattsson
Senior Loan Officer
First Lenders Mortgage
(732) 275-1600
www.firstlendersmortgage.com
Tags: new jersey closing costs, new jersey mortgage fees, new jersey title fees, nj closing fees
