Cash to close moves at the last minute
Prorations, escrow reserves and lender credits all shift, and the number you budgeted in week one is rarely the number on the Closing Disclosure. It is not a bait and switch; it is arithmetic nobody showed you.
For home buyers
You should know the number before you are asked to send it.
Closing is where a purchase becomes real and where most of the surprises live. The cash figure, the policy you are buying, and the wire you are about to send are all things you can understand in advance.
The real problem
What buyers get blindsided by
All four are avoidable with a week's notice and none with a day's.
Who pays for the owner's policy is negotiable
In much of North Texas the seller customarily pays, but the TREC contract makes it a term the parties agree on. Assuming the custom and finding out otherwise at closing is an expensive surprise.
Wire fraud is aimed at you
Criminals watch real estate email threads and send instructions that look exactly right at exactly the right moment. You are moving more money than you ever have, on a deadline, for the first time. That is the whole attack.
Signing does not mean you get the keys
Texas funds after signing. The lender funds, the county records, then possession follows what the contract says. Movers booked for the signing day are a recurring and preventable mistake.
How we offer value
How we work with buyers
Mostly this is about telling you things early and in plain language.
Cash-to-close certainty before you sign anything
You get figures early and an explanation of anything that moves, rather than a number handed to you at the table.
A verified-callback wire protocol
We give you a number to verify against at the start. Our instructions never change by email. If you get an email changing them, it is fraud — call us on the number you already have.
Your commitment, explained
We tell you what the exceptions on Schedule B actually mean for what you can do with the property.
We explain the endorsements you are offered
The survey deletion and the others have set, promulgated charges. We will tell you what each buys so you can decide, rather than initialing something unexplained.
In development
Cash to Close, For Real
A buyer's worksheet that uses the actual TDI rate rules — including simultaneous issue and the priced endorsements — instead of a flat percentage guess.
- Price, loan type, county and closing date in; a realistic cash-to-close estimate out.
- The promulgated premium calculated from the current TDI rate table, not an approximation.
- Tax prorations by your actual closing date and county rate.
- A clear split between what is identical at every Texas title company and what each company sets itself.
This one is still being built. Until it ships, our escrow team will walk the same analysis with you on a real file — ask and we will do it.
How the file runs
What closing actually looks like
- 1
File opens
We receipt your earnest money, confirm the deadlines from your contract, and give you the wire verification number.
- 2
Title work
We search title and send you the commitment with every exception document and a plain-English summary.
- 3
Figures
We balance with your lender before the Closing Disclosure goes out, so the number you see is the number you send.
- 4
Signing, funding, keys
You sign, the lender funds, the county records. We tell you which day each of those is likely to be.
Straight answers
The questions we actually get
Including the ones with answers you may not want. We would rather say it here than at the closing table.
Do I need an owner's title policy?
The lender's policy protects the lender's lien, not your ownership. The owner's policy is the one that protects you, and in Texas it is issued at a promulgated rate. Whether the seller pays for it is a contract term you and the seller negotiate.
Is title insurance cheaper at a different company?
No. The basic premium is promulgated by the Texas Department of Insurance and is identical statewide. The escrow fee is not promulgated and does vary, so that is the fair thing to compare.
I got an email with updated wire instructions. Is that normal?
No. Treat it as fraud. Our wire instructions never change by email. Call us using the verification number we gave you at the start of the file — never a number from the email — before you move any money.
The builder wants me to use their title company. Do I have to?
If you are paying for the policy, federal law protects your right to choose your own provider, and a seller cannot make using theirs a condition of the sale. Builders may offer incentives, which is legal; requiring it is not.
What does the survey deletion actually do?
It removes part of the standard survey exception so the policy covers certain boundary and encroachment issues. Whether it is worth it depends on the property and what the survey shows. The charge is promulgated, so it costs the same wherever you close.
What is set by the state, and what is not
Two different kinds of number.
Identical at every Texas title company: the basic title insurance premium and the promulgated endorsement charges. These are set by the Texas Department of Insurance. No company can discount them, and any company implying it can is describing something that is not legally possible.
Set by each company: the escrow or settlement fee, and the incidental charges around it. These are not promulgated, they do vary, and they are the fair thing to compare.
We would rather tell you which is which than let you assume we are cheaper on something nobody can be cheaper on.
The other side of the deal
Every transaction has more than one of you in it.
Buyer agents
Your buyer needs the commitment and Schedule B in hand before the option period ends. That timing is the one thing a title company fully controls.
What we do for them →Home sellers
What you will actually net, which repairs pay you back, and what your agents are worth on your house — before the sign goes in the yard.
What we do for them →Mortgage lenders
Fee quotes that survive from Loan Estimate to Closing Disclosure, so a tolerance cure never comes out of your pocket.
What we do for them →Ask before you sign
Get the number and the explanation early.
Send us your contract or just ask a question. We would rather spend fifteen minutes now than have you learn something new at the signing table.