What is a reasonable charge for closing a real estate deal?

[TNDemo]

We are buying a house by owner and there is no agent involved. I was wondering what a reasonable rate by a closing attorney is? Can this be shopped around? Can I call some closing attorneys and compare rates?

[AngryAmish]

1. Depends on your area

Call around and compare. It is a very fungible service.

[pagerbear]

4. Ooh! Fungible!

fun·gi·ble (fŭn'jə-bəl)
adj.
Law. Returnable or negotiable in kind or by substitution, as a quantity of grain for an equal amount of the same kind of grain.
Interchangeable.
n.
Something that is exchangeable or substitutable. Often used in the plural.



fun'gi·bil'i·ty n.
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[Sabriel]

2. Here in WI

We're paying $600 to handle everything, including appearance at closing. If there's a FSBO organization in your area, their website often has links to service-providers, like lawyers who handle FSBO buys/sales.

[Raven]

3. In the Boston area

lawyers will do closings for $500-$700. There is alot of competition and you probably can pay less. If you are getting a mortgage, the mortgage company will pick a lawyer to close and you will pay the fee. The biggest closing expense is having the title to the property examined and you won't be able to avoid that.

[pagerbear]

5. In New York

...by custom you pay your lawyer's fee (highly variable) plus the mortgage company's lawyer's fee.

Most closing practices vary by area, and unless I'm mistaken, vary more by area custom than by actual law. Everything that is done by custom is negotiable. I mean fungible.

[Wickerman]

6. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of

fungible in the coming days. It might, if we don't take care, become the meme of the summer.