Hello!

I have always been shocked by how expensive title insurance and settlement fees are. As a buyer, has anyone had experience either negotiating with the incumbent Title Insurance company on how much they are charging, or using alternative providers such as Entitle Direct?

On one of my closing statements the title company wanted to charge $2000 in settlement/closing fee, $500 for lender's title policy, and $180 per endorsement. I wonder if it's at all common to negotiate these fees. For example, my sense is that settlement/closing fee should usually be in the $500-750 range (and not scale based on purchase price as it is mostly a fixed cost?).

I have also received an independent quote from Entitle Direct that is much lower ($500 settlement/closing fee, $500 for lender's title policy, $25/endorsement), although the biggest saving is on the owner's title policy ($1000 vs. $3000 from the incumbent Title company above). Unfortunately in my state it is common for the seller to pay for the owner's title policy so I won't be able to capture that saving. While it's still very tempting to be able to save $1500-2000 in settlement and endorsement fees, I wonder if the switching hassle is worth it and whether anyone has experience doing this?

Would appreciate any and all advice. Thank you!