Escrow Company Fees- Homogeneous or Varied By Location?

[Jake Kucheck]

Locally, we get a pretty good deal (by my standards) on our escrow fee. $500/file as a flat fee, not a % of the purchase price. Our deals tend to be from $125-200K.

On a retail deal I'm doing at the moment, the sales price of which is $340K, I saw an escrow fee on the closing statement of $995. I thought this was slightly high, but not outrageous. However, the buyer has a relative that claims they closed a $400K escrow with a $500 escrow fee. To me, this seems like a smokin' deal... but wondering if this a function of the location of the deal (different county recorder's having different processess, etc).

Any thoughts/input appreciated.