Closing Tips: How to Save Money When Buying a House

A guide for saving money when you need it most.

Buying a new house can be an overwhelming experience. Paperwork needs to be filled out, down payments need to be processed, transfers of titles need to be completed—AND on top of all that, you need to keep your budget in mind. Like we said, it can be overwhelming.

Unfortunately, we often see companies charging prospective homebuyers for some of the most mundane tasks required to close on their deal. Our team thought it would be a great time to give you, the homebuyer, some tips about saving money when buying a new house. When it’s extra fees you’re trying to avoid, don’t forget—The Universal Settlement Team is ready to partner with you! Now, let’s jump into some tips to get you ‘home sweet home’ with some extra money left over.

Tip #1: The Power of Choice

We’ve seen it before. Homebuyers get swept up in all of the details of buying a house only to have key choices made for them rather than with them. As a homebuyer, you have the right to decide who you want to work with for closing purposes i.e., your title company. We’ll jump into why this is important and how it saves you money next, but just remember to empower yourself—speak up and do research on whatever title company is pushed your way. You CAN choose your title company and this CAN pay off, let’s take a look at how.

Tip #2: Take Control of the Process

The first way that choosing your own title company pays off is by putting the ball in your court. When you take the reins and make this decision, you get better access to the process, the team completing your paperwork, and familiarity with timeframes for closing. For most people, time is money—making this a great perk to tap into when you choose a title company yourself. You also can save money by being able to say yes or no to certain additional services a title company may offer that can shave off some major dollar signs from your budget bottom line.

Tip #3: Avoid the Fees

If you’ve purchased a home before, you may have encountered some fees that snuck up on you and seemed excessive during your process, especially if you did not choose the title company yourself. If you’ve been served these unnecessary fees before, we’re here to tell you that when you choose your title company yourself, you get the power to research, explore, and inquire about any fees directly prior to moving forward with the closing process.

Here at Universal, we don’t believe in surprise fees, that’s why we don’t charge for things like document storing, wiring funds to our office, notary services, etc., that other companies typically charge homebuyers for. This is the key area where savings are to be had. Avoid the fees, choose Universal to help you close.

Let’s Recap

Saving money while you buy a home is possible with the right choices and the right research. When you start your home purchasing journey, be sure to:

Research and choose your own settlement company
Review title companies for hidden or unnecessary fees
Reach out to settlement companies directly before making your final decision
Enjoy the time AND money you save before move-in day

If you want to save even more time, we’ve done a lot of research ourselves to make sure we cut out all of the unnecessary steps and fees to make sure you always have the best experience when purchasing your new home. Work with experts that care about your budget, only at Universal Settlement Services of PA, LLC.

CONNECT WITH OUR TEAM!

Homebuyers: Top 3 Fees to Avoid at Closing

Your reference guide to keeping more money in your pocket.

Is There ‘Fee’ Repellant?

Unfortunately, we cannot say there is some miracle cure to avoiding additional closing fees, but we can tell you about certain costs to keep your eye on. During the exciting, albeit, busy time period when you are closing on your home purchase, there are a lot of items to consider. Our team has come across instances where fees can be added to a buyer’s closing costs that they weren’t expecting and came as a huge surprise. They are easy to spot once you know what to look for, so let’s jump into our top 3 unnecessary fees to avoid at closing. Don’t forget, our expert team is always here to support you through closing…with no junk fees!

#1: Notary Fees/Settlement Fee

This is a great place to start. When it comes down to your official signature and verification of documents signed (closing paperwork), a notary of some sort will be required. Notaries serve as an official witness and can provide your paperwork with the authenticity required to close the deal. Closing cost fees also are a crucial part to the closing process. They just appear under a lot of different names like origination fees, credit report fees, even property taxes and recording fees. You may be handed a hidden fee for notary services or even see other fees pop up. Although these fees do not tend to be very costly, every penny counts as you work through your home purchasing process.

To avoid unnecessary notary and settlement fees, you can either arrange to sign paperwork in a meeting setting or attend closing at the title office. Beware though, some companies will still add in the notary fee, even if you went to their office! In that case, it’s always worth discussing the fee when deciding on a settlement/title company. The best way to avoid this one though, is to work with Universal Settlement Services of PA, where you can focus on what matters most—closing on your home.

#2: Wire Transfers & Overnight Packages

This one can sometimes hit where it hurts. You are ready to get into your new home and even more fees pop up just to get the packages back to the lender or to receive money from the lender. This is probably our least favorite type of fee and the amounts charged by some companies can be rather surprising. Either way, packages or wire transfers must be sent per closing agreements, and this can often leave some parties in the deal feeling like they have to pay the fee no matter what. You can always opt in for fees for faster transfers or mailing, but there are ways to avoid this fee.

Avoiding fees like this means doing your research about a title or settlement company prior to choosing a company to handle your transaction. If you can’t find information about these fees, they are probably there waiting for closing time. We believe in never charging extra for services like these—it’s simply the right thing to do! So, don’t get surprised during closing, do your research, or connect with Universal Settlement Services of PA.

#3: Document Preparation

Hear us out here. Most settlement companies are getting paid to prepare the closing paperwork. Nonetheless, we see document preparation fees pop up ALL OVER THE PLACE! If you can’t tell, we really recommend you do your best to avoid these fees because the amount is left up to the company’s discretion and can be surprisingly high sometimes. The document prep work is something that should never cost the buyer more money. It’s not just the prep work either…some companies will charge you to just STORE your documents for a specified amount of time. Sneaking in a fee for the “digital real estate” your documents hold. Yet again, research, research, research. Look into and talk to representatives of the company to see if you can determine all of the fees.

When you choose our team, we'll make sure to let you know what fees you are paying and make sure that NONE of them are junk fees that you don't need to pay. Our goal is to get you to the closing table as smoothly as possible!

Close in Confidence

Hidden fees are a not-so-fun part of life but now you know the top three to look out for when closing on your home. Just remember to do your homework before committing to a settlement company…OR take all the homework out of it and work with our team from the start. Hidden fees have no place here, but you very much do. Let’s connect and lay out your timeline for closing!