2025 Edition: Homebuyer's Guide to Savings

5 Strategies for Minimizing Closing Costs & Maximizing Allowable Credits

We've helped our clients save over $7.5 million in closing costs.

You can rather easily cut your out of pocket closing costs by several thousand dollars, leaving you extra cash to help furnish or update your new home, or simply invest for your future. We've been advising home buyers where to find these hidden savings for more than 20 years! Here’s the same advice we share with our customers, friends, and family.

Now you know.

ALT Title Insurance Company North Wales PA

Source of Savings in Dollars

Let's find some hidden savings.

If you want to reduce your out of pocket closing costs, it's helpful to know where to look. On the typical home purchase, the biggest negotiable items are related to your lender, title insurance, real estate broker, and the seller.

On a $400,000 home purchase, we'll show you how you could save up to $15,000 or more using our 5 strategies.

Tip #1

Ask your lender for a credit towards closing costs.

Depending upon your loan program, your lender may be able to either offer you a credit to offset some of your closing costs, or a lower mortgage interest rate, and sometimes both. Depending upon the size of the loan, we’ve worked with customers who have received lender credits up to $1,500 or more.

A lender credit would have to be factored into the loan’s pricing from the start. If you're short on cash for closing, a lender credit can help reduce your upfront costs, but you may pay more in interest over the life of the loan. If you’re interested in a lender credit, ask to see a comparison of costs with and without.

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FAQs: Mortgage & Lenders

Tip #2

The “One-Stop Shop” is Rarely a Bargain

Brokers, builders, and lenders often push their in-house or “affiliate” title company, pitching it as a more convenient, all-under-one-roof solution.

But here’s the truth: these one-stop shops are typically built on profit-sharing and referral fees. Whether it’s the in-house title company or the agent-for-hire showing up on Zillow listings, everyone’s taking a cut—and those costs are passed on to you.

When you choose an independent title company like ALT, you cut out the middlemen and their extra fees. You could save $1,000 or more just by shopping around.

Want proof? Use our online title calculator 24/7 to get a complete and accurate quote.

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FAQs: Title Insurance & Settlement Services

Tip #3

Ask your real estate broker for a commission rebate.

If your real estate agent’s commission is being paid by the seller or builder, your mortgage lender will typically allow your agent to credit a portion of their commission to offset some of your closing costs at settlement.

A commission credit towards closing costs could save you more than $1,000 at final settlement.

Savvy real estate agents and brokers realize that by easing the financial impact on their clients, they’ll potentially attract more business. But not all brokers or agents are willing or able to offer a commission rebate, so we recommend bringing it up early in the process—ideally while you're still interviewing potential agents.

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FAQs: Real Estate Broker/Agent

Tip #4

Ask your real estate broker to waive their admin fee.

Broker admin fees—also known as broker service fees or flat-fee commissions—are charges brokers collect for so-called administrative services.

Typically, the broker will say this covers services like ordering title insurance, communicating with your lender, scheduling final settlement and sending out settlement notices. In practice, though, much of this work is actually handled by the title company, making this fee feel more like a junk-fee than a necessary expense.

Eliminating this fee can save you an additional $500 or more

.

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FAQs: The Broker Admin Fee

Tip #5

Understand seller credits, gift funds from family, and government grants.

All three of these could save you thousands of dollars and a gift from a family member could cover ALL of your out of pocket closing costs. But it’s important to understand the differences and the advantages of each because there are limits on seller credits and some grants may require you to pay some of the money back under certain circumstances.

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FAQs: Credits, Gifts, Grants

for sale by owner settlement services for private pa transactions

ALT's Comprehensive Service for Private Transactions, For Sale by Owner

When the buyer chooses ALT for their title insurance, both Buyer and Seller can save money at settlement. View a list of our comprehensive services.

When a property catches your eye, estimate all your closing costs with this free tool.

It's 5-in-one mortgage calculator

  • Calculate when payments will start and how much they'll be
  • Calculate pro-rated closing costs, including insurances based on the settlement date
  • Calculate state and local taxes including school taxes based on the exact address
  • Calculate the funds you'll need for closing
  • Identify areas where you could potentially further reduce or eliminate fees
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More Helpful FAQs

Great service from Susan, Frank, and the entire team! I sold my Old City condo in a private sale. ALT Title handled the entire transaction, providing me with a purchase agreement, all necessary disclosure forms and handling the closing. I didn't have to use a realtor or attorney, which saved me thousands of dollars and lots of aggravation. I highly recommend ALT Title and would definitely use this business again in the future.

Jim Donovan on Google

Going with ALT was one of the best decisions I made as a first time home buyer.

The first title company I was connected to had a really nice digital interface & a snazzy app, but they also couldn’t/wouldn’t tell me what I should expect to pay on top of the cost of insurance. They were asking me to sign the insurance agreement and I still had no idea what other fees would be involved to close.

ALT was crystal clear: they gave me their estimate, and they charged me exactly that estimate, which plainly listed out what it did and did not include. The other title company insisted that the estimate was not realistic and too good to be true, but that’s what I paid. ALT covered/comped almost all the incidental costs over the insurance premium—no other title company’s price came close.

At that unbelievably low price, I also got super friendly, super responsive, knowledgeable service. Everyone at the company was great, helped make things happen fast, and also walked me through some of the non conventional aspects of our purchase. (Another thing the other title company not only could not do, but seemed unclear on themselves.)

Seriously: it seems like there should be a catch but there isn’t. Cannot recommend this company highly enough.

K.L., posted on Google

ALT saved me a few hundred dollars.

"I have been warned about ripoffs and hidden fees at settlement. They answered my many questions and helped to eliminate a phony charge the seller's realtor wanted to collect from me. They charged me exactly what PA dictates and NOTHING more--no conveyancing fees, no notary fees, no office use fees, no deed recording fees or any other invented fee of any kind."

Rich C., posted on Google

I was introduced to ALT through my realtor.

"The quote was unbeatable. No hidden fees at settlement. No surprises at all. They were on time and everything was smooth. Frank answered all the questions patiently and things to avoid after the settlement in regards to duplicate deeds in mail and other cautions. I would recommend ALT to anyone looking for a title company."

-Arvind J., posted on Google

Everyone was so great to work with at ALT.

"We used ALT recently to purchase a new home and they were fantastic. They made the process so easy and the best part was that you didn't have to fight with them over any hidden charges which sometimes happens with title companies. I recommend them highly."

-George H., posted on Google