An escrow agent is a mutually agreed upon third party that assists in facilitating the obligations of all parties as outlined in the real estate contract. The escrow company is responsible for collecting and holding funds and important documents. This ensures the seller receives payment and the buyer obtains title to the property upon a successful closing.

Once a real estate contract is signed by buyer and seller, the escrow company will collect earnest money to be held in escrow, complete a title search, and obtain any necessary documentation to complete the transaction.  This process includes verifying all taxes are paid and prorated accordingly, and that the property is free of any liens, judgments, or encroachments that would prevent the buyer from taking title to the home at the time of closing.

The following are standard fees in every real estate transaction, however, the fees are typically negotiable per the real estate contract: Title policy insurance premiums and endorsements, local and state transfer taxes, any property taxes due at the time of closing, document recordation fees, notary/signing fees, and an escrow closing fee.

The closing fee covers the cost of the title search and examination, document preparation, wire and courier fees, and the services of the escrow agent to collect all information, expenses, and documentation to successfully close the real estate transaction.

At the time of closing, Newfound Settlement Services will provide you with a form to complete authorizing us to either wire transfer funds to your bank account, or overnight an official check to you.

This is a document we create after assessing the property under contract, reviewing contract details, and looking at all parties involved. It starts with a few pages of information disclosed by the policy underwriter, including notices, definitions, guidelines, and procedures.

Next pages outline some details specific to your unique transaction. This begins with Schedule A: information about the issuing agency (usually your closing company), the date the commitment is issued, the parties being insured by the owner policy, and if applicable, the party being insured under the lender policy and any related premiums or endorsements being added to expand coverage to either policy.

On the Schedule B page, we list the requirements to be fulfilled for us to issue the final policy after closing. Most of these requirements are baked into the closing process and documents are already included in the closing package signed by all parties. The real estate and closing agents will work with you to fulfill these requirements and gather any additional documents that must be provided before the close date.

When a property is changing hands throughout its life, there can be hiccups along the way that may not have been noticed or addressed.

Title insurance offers protection to your crucial investment from potential losses based on the property’s ownership history (also known as the ‘chain of title’). Some common examples of coverage include unpaid taxes from previous years resulting in a lien, recorded mechanics liens that were not addressed at previous closings, errors in the legal description, persons not in title that claim to have ownership over the property, fraud or forgery of paperwork in the title chain.

This insurance policy also represents that should any of these problems arise during your ownership of the property, the insurer will either fix the problem, defend you against it in court, or compensate you for losses accrued, up to the amount insured.

Premiums are priced based on the final contracted purchase price of the property and the county it belongs to.

These fees are regulated by the Department of Regulatory Agencies and change from time to time.

We offer a discount if the property being sold has been issued a title insurance policy in the last 5 years.

Selling the property within 3 years of the last title policy qualifies for a 50% discount, and selling 4-5 years from last title policy qualifies for a 30% discount off the premium amount.

The owner’s policy protects your investment as the owner from defects in the history of ownership of the property. The lender’s policy protects the lender’s right to have the priority lien on the property (this is referring to the mortgage lien). Both of these policies are technically voluntary, though most lenders will require the purchase of a lender’s title insurance policy.