Everything in real estate is negotiable and that includes title insurance and escrow services.

Title insurance companies are hired, in part, to issue title insurance protection for home buyers and lenders. Lenders require the service to protect them against loss resulting from claims by others against your new home.

The insurance comes into play during the "closing" period of real estate transactions and is usually packed with escrow services.

Escrow services provide a neutral third party, through which is funneled the paperwork, money, transaction instructions and other details of a home purchase or mortgage refinance.

Here are some tips to get the best title and escrow services for the best price.

• Educate yourself. The title industry's American Land Title Association, its state affiliates, the American Escrow Association and your state's regulatory offices for title and escrow services, all provide consumer information.

For more independent insight, consider Sandy Gadow's mother-of -all-title-and-escrow-books "The Complete Guide To Your Real Estate Closing" (McGraw Hill $19.95). Gadow also offers a partner Web site EscrowHelp.com.

• Before hiring title or escrow services, obtain several referrals from those you trust, family, friends, co-workers, real estate agents and others who've recently closed a satisfactory escrow.

• Ask for a referral to the title or escrow officer, not the company. The officer should be familiar with the type of home you are selling, especially if it's a condo or other multiplex home, an older historic home or other special house.

The officer should be conveniently located. Saving time saves money.

Consider a professional who is patient, exacting and willing to give you the time and information you need to understand escrow.

• Compare the costs of different escrow and title companies before agreeing to use one. Fees can and do vary widely. Ask for EACH AND EVERY escrow cost from title insurance and search and escrow service fees to all the little, so-called "garbage fees" that crop up in escrow.

• Be aware of discounts. Refinance-related discounts may be available when the loan being refinanced is relatively new, or only a few years old. Likewise, if you stick with the same lender and title and escrow service, discounts may be available.

• Be sure when you complete an application for a loan you get settlement costs and good faith estimate information. Federal law requires the lender or mortgage broker deliver these documents to you within three days of receiving the application. Costs on the good faith estimate and final settlement sheet are not only title insurance and escrow related fees, but a host of other costs for the mortgage, insurance and taxes among others.

• Remember, the good faith estimate is only an estimate. For example, the lender may not know the costs for a escrow agent or title company that you use, or the exact amount that will be collected for title insurance and other costs not levied by the lender.

• To avoid surprises, let the lender and settlement agent (escrow or title company) know that you will want to see the settlement statement one day in advance and that you won't be rushed on closing day. Under new federal regulations you can also get a final truth-in-lending disclosure three days before closing.

• Compare the good faith estimate with the settlement statement and, if necessary, contact the lender as well as the title/escrow company, to demand that they explain any differences. Ask the lender, title or escrow companies to waive any fees that were not listed in the good-faith estimate and they can't explain to your satisfaction. Get an acceptable explanation why it wasn't on the original statement.

• On closing day, come prepared with plenty of time, pencil, paper, a calculator, and an inquisitive, demanding mind. You are allowed to have your representative -- a real estate agent, mortgage counselor or other professional -- attend closing with you. A real estate agent is involved in the deal should accompany you.

Published: October 8, 2009

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.