You have just finished spending much of your free time shopping for a new home, and finally, you have a deal. You only have a deal when you have a contract signed by the buyers and the sellers that contains the basic terms of the deal. Now what?
It is likely that a real estate agent has helped you to get to this point. The first thing you must do is to add to your real estate team. If you have not already engaged a mortgage broker, do so immediately because your real estate contract limits the amount of time you have to get a mortgage commitment.
And you must now hire a law office that is experienced in real estate closings. Kathy Howes has fourteen years of experience as a residential real estate closing attorney, and several years as a banker. Jennifer Starr is trained in real estate closings and has nine years experience as our legal assistant. Once you decide to hire Howes & Howes, you should fax or deliver the signed real estate contract to our office as soon as possible.
Howes & Howes charges a flat attorney’s fee of $900, which is paid at the closing table. There are other costs not reflected in the attorney’s fee that are payable at closing. In order to prepare for closing, you must be aware of these costs.
To protect your title to the property, we file a Notice of Settlement, Deed and Mortgage with the County Clerk’s Office, and obtain title insurance from a reputable firm. The Clerk’s fees and the Title Insurance premium are by law. The Clerk’s filing fees will be approximately $350.00. Title Insurance premiums are based on the purchase price and the mortgage amount
We will have to hire a surveyor. Surveys for residential real estate typically cost $500, sometimes more.
