Title insurance and Home owner Insurance (Austin: home owners insurance, mortgage, loan)

[l0ll1]

Hello All,

Title Insurance:
In Texas, state sets the premium. So,
is it worth the time to shop around for title insurance?
What fees are typically involved and what are legit fees and what are negotiable?
Any good title company you recommened?


Home Owners Insurance: any recommendations would be appreciated.


Thanks!

[Tom Williams 9]

whose responsibility is title insurance , the buyer or the seller?

[l0ll1]

Seller is not giving as I'm not going with their financing company. So, the mortgage lender is paying the title insurance.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by l0ll1

Seller is not giving as I'm not going with their financing company. So, the mortgage lender is paying the title insurance.

Sounds like you're buying a new home. 99% of purchases of existing homes will have the seller providing the Title Insurance, since it is the seller guaranteeing clear title. Builders try to induce you to use their lending arm (where they make money originating your loan) and penalize you by not paying the title insurance if you don't.

I'd have your Realtor renegotiate with the builder. Most are, at present, not in a strong position to be dickering over this and I think if you press it they may relent. I seriously doubt they'll let a buyer walk a deal over Title Insurance as they know full well that all private sellers pay it.

So, the mortgage lender is paying the title insurance.

You're still paying for it. The lender has it factored into your interest rate and/or origination fees most likely as they are not originating your loan for free. Ask more questions about this.

Did you buy this house on your own or do you have an agent helping you? Your agent should know all of this. If you didn't use an agent, did you negotiate strongly with the builder? You can do so in the current market.

Steve

[l0ll1]

Thanks Steve for your reply.

Yes, I'm purchasing a new home. As you said builder lending arm is costlier with higher interest rate and higher closing costs. If I go outside, I'm getting a much better rate and closing costs, which is nullifying the builders contribution in 2 and half years. So, I decided to go with the other lender. I tried to negotiate with them, but they were not ready to negotiate.

As you said I'm paying for title by 1/8 increase in rate, but the rate is still 0.25% better than builders lender and closing costs are approx $1500 less.

About negotiating with the builder, yes I did I guess by comparing with the outside lender and I even showed the GFE. But, still they are not flexible on anything.

[Texacan]

I got my best quote with Farmers Insurance Group. Since Texas has the highest homeowners premiums in the nation, I would get several quotes.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121907dntexinsurance (broken link)

[atxcio]

Farmers Insurance Group may be cheap, but they have horrible customer service ratings. I'd be worried if I ever had to make a claim. They were rated among the worst, if not the worst, by Consumer Reports in 2003 and 2006. There are many customer complaint sites. Google it to see.

If you can get it, it's a bit more expensive but very highly rated -- USAA. I've also used Travelers in the past, and they were good about a roof claim. Cheaper than USAA but still a bit more expensive than Farmers.

[l0ll1]

Thanks Texacan and atxcio.

[HappyTexan]

I have Farmers Insurance for both my home and house.

I had my roof totalled a few years ago with some bad storms that came through Austin and I was very happy with the service. They came out, looked over the roof, totalled it and gave me a check right there and then. I also had called them a few years earlier than that when I had some shingles blow off the roof. Again they promptly came out and the adjuster told me it wasn't worth it to file a claim as the damage was small and localized and I should just call a roofer and get it repaired. He did check for any water damage in the attic before he told me that.

Do a google on any company and you will always find people not happy. The happy ones ususally don't post on the internet.

Anyway..just my 2 cents. I will continue to use them as I have had very good service from them.

[texdav]

Farmers was also rated very high by those on the coast that were struck by hurricane rita. State farm and All State had the most complaints from reports.