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January 24, 2007
Tips at Closing???
Going over closing costs with my attorney and he tells me to bring personal checks for the gratuities to title company rep and others (like him, maybe?). Is this for real? Who am I supposed to tip at a real estate closing, how much, and why? Call me stingy, but I'm sort of thinking the many, MANY thousands of dollars in cash I'm forking over to actually pay these people for their services ought to be more than enough.
Comments
You always tip the the title company representative. Depending on what additional servies they are providing (Arranging title to an LLC, Second Mortgage Recordings, Closing out a mortgage, Deed Transfers, etc.) the typical gratuity is anything from $100-$300.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 8:13 AM
Very standard. Grow up.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 8:19 AM
the only person to tip at closing is the title company rep. i know it seems like a rip off considering the title insurance costs thousands already, but if you give him $100, that's fine.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 8:50 AM
This is all news to me. The bank provided the title insurance for my new house. The only folks at the closing were the bank, seller, and buyers attorneys. I was asked to bring my checkbook, but it was incase there were any changes/adjustments to the closing fees, which required additional payment beyond the very large certified check I was bringing.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 9:02 AM
it's an odd holdover from an earlier era, this gratuity to the title person. however, at my closing our title rep was pretty impressive. going through the paperwork with the lawyers, some discrepancies arose, she got on the horn and cleared everything up. who knows, maybe it's all a show, but it's a pretty good one. the money you pay out at closing will probably seem confusing, but your lawyer should be able to explain everything to you. some are better at this than others (they should have already explained the tip to you). i paid $200 to my title person. what's another $200 when you're blowing your life's saving? :)
Posted by: JL at January 24, 2007 9:15 AM
Never knew you were supposed to tip a title person so Ive never done it in my multiple closings.
I dont really understand how a tip is appropriate - they are paid professionals, not serving staff. I wouldn't tip my doctor or my architect, why would I tip any professional?
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 9:22 AM
come on guys it's a game...if you go to a closing where the lawyers are from brooklyn, the title guys from brooklyn, the realtors from brooklyn etc etc ...tips will be expected...my lawyer told me to tip title guy too...if you're a multiple closing machine you're probably operating on different budgets/fees etc. so no surprise that you haven't tipped...
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 9:31 AM
the title rep . is the most important person there . ive alway tipped him/her $100
Posted by: eletricgreek at January 24, 2007 9:35 AM
quite often, in the olden days back before Notary Publics were allowed to be paid for their services as a Notary, a tip was considered standard as thanks for the convenience of their attendance at the proceedings. S'pose it's a holdover from that since now, title reps are often the de facto Notary at closings.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 9:42 AM
i've never interacted with the title rep, never seen them. i'm not in Brooklyn though, so this must be a Brooklyn thing.
title insurance is the biggest SCAM in real estate.
i'm not saying it isn't important, but there is NO WAY the price is commensurate with their services. it just isn't. but it's required so they have you over a barrel.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 9:44 AM
I close on my 1st house in 7 days (House in Bklyn, closing in Manhattan) & I kind of wish I hadn't seen this post. Now I have another $100 debit in my Quicken "House" account.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 9:46 AM
Congrats on the closing .
Your attorney will tell you to write a check made out to cash . that's the check the title rep will get .
Posted by: eletricgreek at January 24, 2007 10:01 AM
Do NOT tip. THAT IS RIDICULOUS. THESE PEOPLE ARE ALREADY OVERCHARGING YOU.. AFTER YOU PAY 30,000 PLUS IN CLOSING COSTS, THEN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO TIP?... I AM OUTRAGED. WE CLOSED IN MAY AND DID NOT TIP A SOUL. AND NOW I HAVE AN EXTRA FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS TO SAVE OR SPEND ON THE HOUSE.
Posted by: bojolais at January 24, 2007 10:04 AM
I was told to tip the title guy also and I felt the same way about it as you. But i did it anyway but *shrug*. Actually i went to a closing over the summer (i was the seller) and the buyer never showed up but we still tipped the title guy. That really made no sense to me! All he did was sit there and chit chat with us, wtf. Anyway what you decide to do in this situation is obviously your decision but i tend to agree with you, this tip nonsense is retarded.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 10:17 AM
It is customary to tip the title closer because they are not paid a salary. They are paid by the title company per closing that they do. So, the actual title closer has no claim or interest in the $$ you actual pay for title insurance. So, it is not a scam.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 11:05 AM
Only SCHMUCKS 'tip' at closing. But then again only schmucks are foolish enough to buy in today's overpriced (and soon to go down) real estate market. You're ALREADY being fleeced and overcharged on many items & services in your closing costs.
To 'tip' them over and above that is as stupid as 'tipping' the guys in the firing squad that is about to shoot you down.
Posted by: ben dover at January 24, 2007 12:50 PM
Only SCHMUCKS 'tip' at closing. But then again only schmucks are foolish enough to buy in today's overpriced (and soon to go down) real estate market. You're ALREADY being fleeced and overcharged on many items & services in your closing costs.
To 'tip' them over and above that is as stupid as 'tipping' the guys in the firing squad that is about to shoot you down.
Posted by: ben dover at January 24, 2007 12:51 PM
Only SCHMUCKS 'tip' at closing. But then again only schmucks are foolish enough to buy in today's overpriced (and soon to go down) real estate market. You're ALREADY being fleeced and overcharged on many items & services in your closing costs.
To 'tip' them over and above that is as stupid as 'tipping' the guys in the firing squad that are about to shoot you down.
Posted by: ben dover at January 24, 2007 12:52 PM
i didn't say tipping was a scam, i said title insurance is a scam. which it is.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2007 1:31 PM
nobody can deny that you get fleeced during the closing process. between the title and city fees, it's a total ripoff. as soon as somebody can find a way to fight city hall (besides getting huffy and pretending that not buying is a method of protest), i will stand up to the fee bullies. i'm not smart enough to figure it out now.
Posted by: JL at January 24, 2007 2:38 PM
title closers get minmal pay from the title co. ( as attendance fee and for pick up of documents), so a tip by purchasers are generally customary. the S$ purchasers pays to the title co. does not go to the title closer at all.
Posted by: kl at January 25, 2007 1:29 AM
OP here. Done with the closing, all moved in. Yay! Thanks for all the advice, brownstoners. In the end, I tipped the title person well -- she deserved it -- she really did get on the phone and straighten out every last little issue that came up. Notarized everything in sight. Double- and triple-checked that all 100 million forms were signed in exactly the right places and copied and distributed everything. Answered all my silly questions and basically ring-led the circus. Sure, tipping and all these other costs are kind of a scam, but I'm so happy to have my very own little piece of Brooklyn, I could care less.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 26, 2007 10:44 AM
When I closed on my house (affordable housing lottery)... my lawyer (doing pro bono work) said "and so and so got your title...bla blah blah"... I said "thank you" to the title person.
The lawyer then said "I think you should thank them more"
I said "Thank You Verrry Much!"
F them!
Everyone at the table probably made at least 2x as much as me at the time.
Posted by: Gary in Long Beach at March 6, 2007 4:26 PM
You HAVE to be kidding me. A tip? What is this a food service industry, some graft-riddled Central American country, perhaps?
Do NOT tip these jerks. It's their job and their profession - Brooklyn, NY, Brookline, MA, Bound Brook, NJ...wherever, it doesn't matter.
I actually work as a software service engineer in a field-based location, and given my education and my profession being knowledge-based, if one of my customers tried to tip me, I'd find it insulting. If these losers had any pride, they would so as well.
Tell the lawyer and the title clerk, you'll tip them both $500 - but first you get to kick them in the balls.
Posted by: guest at August 28, 2007 12:01 PM
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