Title insurance rates in DC, MD, and VA are regulated by the state. It is risk spreading, just like all other insurance.

$490 is a good settlement fee, so long as it includes everything (title search, recording, etc.).

It's OP again - PP, you're right. The title insurance works out to approximately $920. Then the services provided by the Title Co. = $490.

So, if I negotiate with title companies, I really can only negotiate the price of the services? Because, like you're saying, the cost of the actual insurance is non-negotiable. Do I have that right now?

Needless to say, when we bought the house, we just went with the title company recommended by our realtor. Now, I'm actually trying to save some money on this refi and do my homework.

That price likely includes the title insurance which will be the same wherever you go.

Thank you all for your responses. I knew the estimate sounded high -too high. I've contacted the title company that we worked with to buy the house and asked them for an estimate. I'm hoping it comes in under $1000, like some of the prices quoted on this thread. If not, I guess I'll keep on checking

BTW, PP who used your old Title Insurance: we're being told we can't. I wonder why...

We just dug up our most recent title search and submitted that. $0.

NY Times did an article a little while ago about how to save money when shopping for your own title services for a refi. That article was a godsend to me. I ended up using Entitle Direct, a company which was mentioned in that article.

Depends on whether DC, MD, VA and loan amount. Should be about $750 for settlement fee plus title insurance (for the lender, based on the loan amount).

They may have overestimated title fees -- if the lender underestimates, they are on the hook for the difference.

PP here. Now I see that I was charged $100 for "Appraisal review" - does anyone think that was a rip-off?

Looking at my re-fi from last year for a 900K home (re-fi amount was about 680K), we paid $955 for the title work and lender's title insurance.

We just received a good faith estimate for our refi and it assumes a total of $2500 for title services. Does that sound right to you? I understand it's just an estimate and that we might be able to shop around to find a lower actual cost. However, I'm wondering if $2500 sounds typical. Any thoughts? TIA.