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Are closing costs different from state to state?

B

Bern

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I am looking into buying a Florida timeshare. I was told that because I live in New York my closing costs would be $1200, but if I lived in Florida it would be $400. Is this true? And if so, why?

Thank you everyone for all your help. It is so appreciated.
 
I don't know, but Tugger JohnMFaeth is knowledgeable and generous with free advice about closing companies. (You can click on private messages and send him a pm or email.)
 
That statement is absolutely incorrect. The closings costs from state to state are exactly the same regardless of residence location of the purchaser.

Costs will vary county to county across the country as counties set their own fees for deed recording fees. Many locations have a real property transfer tax. That amount can vary by local municipalities within a county.

For the seller, non-US residents may be subject to IRS withholding of profits. Some states like NJ may also request a non-resident estimated tax filing with real property transfer tax due from the seller.

In general, $300-$400 is the price for services charged by the average timeshare closing company. This does not include these government fees.

The county recording fees and real property transfer tax should be estimated up front by the closing company. You can easily determine them for yourself through the Recorder of Deeds/County Clerk's Website for the county in which the timeshare is located. Usually they are in the $100 range or less in Florida.

Many closing companies use fleets of clericals to do their work, others do not even have an in-house attorney. It is wise to determine the level of competancy as to who will be involved in handling your closing. This is how many small, yet substantial deeding mistakes (defects) are avoided.

Good luck and congrats on your purchase!
 
Thank you John - I knew, you would know! :hi:
 
Bern:

John is right in his post. Someone is seeing $$$ cause you live in NY. Closing fees are different from company to company. The recording fees are set by each state and county and are public information.

For what it is worth, he and I both own closing companies. I can tell you in Florida where I am, the recording fees set by law are $10.00 for the first page, $8.50 for each additional page after 1. The transfer tax is calculated at the sales price times .007 or 70 cents per $100 of consideration.

Title insurance if you want is available. Title searches depends on who performs them. I have seen from $50 to $150 and title insurance, well I have seen it from $60 to $400. The biggest problem is these companies that are doing title insurance may or may not be following the law.

In Floirda the title premiums are set by State Statute. Everyone is required to use the promulgated rate. What they do is "bundle" the search and the premium and charge 1 large amount.

Third parties fees, like if I use someone to do my searches for me have to be at the price I paid, I am not allowed to mark them up. Title insurance by law is $5.75 per $1000 worth of coverage with a $60.00 minimum.

Florida only requires you to be licensed by the state and carry E&O Insurance and Bonds if you are a full service title company. There are many mom and pop type closing companies out there that do not sell title insurance but will do closings. The are not licensed by the Department of Financial Services and if the skip with the monies, they are hard to find and the buyer/seller is out the cash.

Also, Florida is an Unauthorized Practice of Law state like many others. Title companies and others are only allowed to prepare legal documents (your deed is a legal document) if it is incident to issuing title insurance. If you do not get title insurance, an attorney admitted to the Florida Bar is required to prepare the deed. Actually this is true in most states I operate in.

Hope that gives you more of the answer you are looking for and should give you enough information on the recording fees etc to make your decision more informed.

Dave
 
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A New York closing requires an attorney... thus there is usually an extra cost. It is the law in New York that all timeshare closings be handled by an attorney on top of the closing company. however, this is only if the timeshare is in New York.. the laws of the state that the timeshare is in are what applies and should not be more then the $400.
 
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Hi Freda,

Good point. If the closing company has an in-house attorney who is in the New York Bar, that covers it also.

That is not a requirement if a NY resident is buying outside NY. Then the laws of the state where the TS is located are applicable.

There are consumer protecton laws of NY which apply when NY residents are making purchases. This is discussed in another thread about Marriott (currently active).

John
 
I suggest that the parties use a closing company with an office in Florida, with an agent who is familiar with Florida's tax + fee structure, and have the closing "completed" in a Florida office, to avoid confusion about whether NY's closing-requirements apply.
 
Hi Talent,

NY's closing requirements do not apply in this example. The NY consumer protection law I was referring to demand that new developer sales be registered with the State of NY and that payment cannot be accepted before a "certificate of occupancy" is issued by the local authorities.

Any closing company in the country will have typically have large experience with Florida closings as it represents about 20%+ of the nations timeshares.

John
 
Having not totally read everything, I agree!!! :D

The questions implies that closing fees may be state-mandated, like, say, fees paid to Executors, and that is not the case.

Fees do vary because the components that make the fees up vary. There are things that have to paid in order to close, stuff like resort maintenance fees, resort transfer fees, rip-off resort fees purporting to collect a commission, recording fees, taxes, and the actual fee for doing the service.

Then, since the closing company typically ecrows money going to the seller, that is added to the closing costs.

You can find closings for $200-$250 that include recording fees. The high end depends on how much else needs to be paid for the miscellaneous stuff. If a person has not paid resort fees, and penalties have been added, it could get fairly high.
 
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