Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Houston
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-13-2014, 02:32 PM
 
1,715 posts, read 2,277,345 times
Reputation: 961

Advertisements

Can anyone tell me what sort of closing costs are you saving when you are doing a cash sale vs loan on a house? I had someone tell me that it is mandatory to get Title insurance but I am not sure. Also, regarding property tax does it need an escrow account or does the buyer have to wait till end of they year for that. Any information regarding this would be greatly appreciated.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-13-2014, 04:31 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX (Bellaire)
4,900 posts, read 13,665,848 times
Reputation: 4186
Your best bet is to contact a title company for specific answers. Are you the buyer or the seller?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-13-2014, 05:20 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
2,052 posts, read 5,835,741 times
Reputation: 1298
Usually the seller pays for the title policy from my experience, since it is an assurance that there are no problems or liens on the house that they own and that usually just covers the bank loan. Now you can also get an owner's title policy also to protect your equity. I would want a title policy if it is a cash sale regardless since the seller should pay for it. And for escrow, that is not required at all on a cash sale. A mortgage company takes care of that, and if it is a cash sale, there is no mortgage company. You can set aside money every month in a saving account and just pay it at year end yourself.

As for fees, you save points, apprasal fees (if you don't want it) and other bank loan related fees. I would get a survey anyway, and have inspections too. Appraisal would not be a bad idea so you don't overpay a lot.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-13-2014, 05:38 PM
 
1,715 posts, read 2,277,345 times
Reputation: 961
Quote:
Originally Posted by chris_ut View Post
Your best bet is to contact a title company for specific answers. Are you the buyer or the seller?
I am the buyer but it is not in state of TX so wanted to make sure if the law is similar to TX
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-13-2014, 05:45 PM
 
1,715 posts, read 2,277,345 times
Reputation: 961
Quote:
Originally Posted by trbstang View Post
Usually the seller pays for the title policy from my experience, since it is an assurance that there are no problems or liens on the house that they own and that usually just covers the bank loan. Now you can also get an owner's title policy also to protect your equity..
Thanks. sorry I don't have much experience with this but are you saying that owner and seller both pay for title policy??
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-13-2014, 06:07 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
2,052 posts, read 5,835,741 times
Reputation: 1298
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasTony View Post
Thanks. sorry I don't have much experience with this but are you saying that owner and seller both pay for title policy??
Usually the seller pays for the Lender's title policy in order for the buyer to get the loan. Say the loan is 80% of the value. Then the buyer could pay for a title policy covering the remaining 20%, or not buy an additional policy at all. If you are buying, I would ask for the seller to pay for the policy anyway, eventhough it is not a requirement to get a loan. If someone else was buying it and getting a loan, they would be paying for a policy anyway. Again, this would be something a title company should handle. If they complain, then you could offere to split the cost with them like 80/20 or whatever you agree on.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-13-2014, 06:16 PM
 
1,715 posts, read 2,277,345 times
Reputation: 961
Quote:
Originally Posted by trbstang View Post
Usually the seller pays for the Lender's title policy in order for the buyer to get the loan. Say the loan is 80% of the value. Then the buyer could pay for a title policy covering the remaining 20%, or not buy an additional policy at all. If you are buying, I would ask for the seller to pay for the policy anyway, eventhough it is not a requirement to get a loan. If someone else was buying it and getting a loan, they would be paying for a policy anyway. Again, this would be something a title company should handle. If they complain, then you could offere to split the cost with them like 80/20 or whatever you agree on.
Ok good it. Thanks for the details
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-18-2014, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Houston,TX
113 posts, read 174,002 times
Reputation: 51
approx 400-500$
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-18-2014, 10:18 PM
 
1,150 posts, read 1,864,175 times
Reputation: 1380
A followup, related question: do cash sales close a lot faster? About how long? Also, are sellers more likely to accept a cash sale vs loan? Or is the offer more important? I guess it depends on circumstances.

Like the OP, I will do a cash transaction (when I buy in Houston). My home in Austin is about paid off and I will use the proceeds to buy in Houston in a couple of years.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-18-2014, 10:26 PM
 
Location: The Greater Houston Metro Area
9,053 posts, read 17,111,665 times
Reputation: 15226
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weatherguy View Post
A followup, related question: do cash sales close a lot faster? About how long? Also, are sellers more likely to accept a cash sale vs loan? Or is the offer more important? I guess it depends on circumstances.

Like the OP, I will do a cash transaction (when I buy in Houston). My home in Austin is about paid off and I will use the proceeds to buy in Houston in a couple of years.
Yes, they can close as fast as the title company can clear title - about 10 days. Less, if they can get it done earlier. Do take into consideration the seller's circumstances. If the house is occupied and it has been on the market less than a week - chances are they haven't arranged to have a "go to" place yet, so that has to be thought about and discussed.

If offers are identical, sellers prefer the cash sale - but, unlike some cash buyers seem to believe - cash is not king is the offer is less than an offer that needs a loan. At the end of the day, the seller doesn't really care where the money comes from. It's simpler with cash, but not if they are giving up money.

To the OP - about $500 closing costs IN TEXAS. Outside of Texas, contact a title company in that state for clarification. Texas operates very differently than the other 49 states. There may be associated costs that are not used here - and also reversed.

Last edited by cheryjohns; 01-18-2014 at 11:50 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Houston
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top