Fees
Every fee, before you hire me
Three flat-fee packages, and the work that's quoted on its own. The fee in your engagement letter is the fee you pay.
Buying a home
Most asked forFrom the signed contract to the keys, for one house and one closing.
- Purchase contract read before your inspection deadline
- Title commitment and survey read for problems
- Closing statement checked line by line
- Loretta at the table when you sign
- Title insurance premium
- Recording fees and lender charges
- Term:
- Flat fee, per closing
The premium and fees go to the title company, county and lender.
Selling a home
For an owner selling one house, with or without an agent.
- Sale contract read before you sign it
- The deed drafted for your sale
- Payoff letters and old liens tracked down
- Closing statement checked line by line
- Your agent's commission
- Mortgage payoff and transfer taxes
- Term:
- Flat fee, per closing
Payoffs and taxes come out of your proceeds at closing.
Renting out a home
A lease written for one rental house or duplex, and the papers that go with it.
- Lease written for your property and your rules
- Move-in checklist and deposit terms
- Notice forms for late rent and repairs
- One round of changes after you read it
- Court filing and service fees
- Eviction hearings, quoted on their own
- Term:
- Flat fee, per property
If a tenant has to go, you get a separate flat quote first.
Quoted on their own
Work outside the packages
Each of these gets its own flat quote, in writing, before I start.
- Quoted in writing
Clearing a title problem
An unreleased lien, a missing heir or a gap in the chain of title.
- Quoted in writing
A deed outside a sale
Adding a spouse, moving a house into a trust, or a transfer-on-death deed.
- Quoted in writing
Reviewing an existing lease
Your lease, read and marked up with suggested changes.
- Quoted in writing
An eviction
The notice, the filing and the hearing, plus the court's own costs.
About paying
Paying for the work
Why half up front?
It covers the reading I do in the first week, which is most of the work. The second half is due at closing.
What if the closing falls through?
If it falls through before closing day, you owe the first half only. If I've already cleared a title problem on a separate quote, that quote is still owed.
Can the fee go into my closing costs?
Often, yes. The title company can pay my second half from the closing funds if you'd like.
Will the price change once we start?
No. If something outside the package turns up, you get a separate quote and decide whether to go ahead.
Which package is yours?
Tell me what you're doing with the house. I'll name the package and its price in my reply.