Clear Skies Title AgencyClear Skies Title Agency
Clear Skies Calculators are simple and direct. Enter the relevant pricing information, hit “calculate” and explore your estimates.
To get a deeper understanding of your estimate, check out our blogs — Did You Really Find a Good Deal? and Be Prepared For This Hidden Process In Home Buying. Inside you will find how you can protect yourself from being taken advantage of during the home buying process.
A Real Estate Title Guide is standing by if you have any questions.
| Service | Amount |
|---|---|
| County Title Search We send a searcher to the county courthouse to pull a minimum 40-60 years of history on the property that you are buying. | $100 |
| US District & Superior Court Search "In New Jersey, judgments are levied as liens against real estate for 20-years. We run judgment searches on every name within the statute of limitations to make sure there are no judgment liens against the property. | $70 |
| Property Tax & Assessment Search This certified report is chock-full of important data: accurate property tax info, water and sewer balances, municipal CO and fire department requirements, vacant lot charges, and a whole lot more! | $35 |
| Tideland Search In New Jersey, the state mantains an interest on any land that has ever been part of a natural water basin. This search uses a bunch of geological maps, surveys, and other resources to indicate whether or not New Jersey has any claim on the land you're buying. | $35 |
| Title Examination This is where things get interesting! It takes a special, detailed expert to pore over various searches. Once done, an important report called a Title Commitment is created and issued. | $100 |
| Flood Certificate Can you guess what this means? Correct! This search determines whether your future property is in a flood zone or not. If it is, your lender may require you to buy flood insurance | $10 |
| Post Closing Settlement After closing, our job isn't done yet! Besides the seller and the attorney, we need to pay realtors, surveyors, previous lenders, property taxes, final water bills. On average, we cut 15 checks for every closing! We also record the new deed , check to make sure it was done properly, issue a title policy. Lastly, if there is any money held in escrow, we reconcile those after closing. | $100 |
| Closing Document & Payment Disbursements All parties don't attend closing. This line item covers copies, overnight deliveries, and wires to creditors, lenders, sellers, realtors, and attorneys. | $65 |
| Settlement Agent and Closing Coordination Closing Day! We coordinate closing documents, settlement statement amounts and a closing date. Finally, our closer/notary will walk you through the closing either at our office or a location convenient for you. Did we mention we can close in 5 different languages or anywhere in NJ? We even closed in a hospital once! | $465 |
| Notice of Settlement Filing Notices of Settlements are a crucial part of defending your title. This document, which we record at the beginning of the closing process, acts like a shield against sellers attempting to take out some last-minute debt, or selling the property to two buyers at the same time (this has happened before!). This is the cost that the county charges us to record. | $24 |
| Transaction Management Platform Keeping track all of the above requires the use of a pretty sophisticated software that is constantly updated to follow changing rules and regulations in our industry. We pay $35 for every file we processs. | $40 |
| County Filing Verification Part of the wrap-up process is making sure that all the important instruments were properly recorded. We send a searcher BACK to the county about ten days after closing to make sure all the documents are on record! | $30 |
| Total ServicesActions needed to happen to insure property to be purchased. | 1074.00 |
| Total Estimate (Premiums+Services) | 000.00 |
| County Title Search | $100 |
| US District & Superior Court Search | $70 |
| Property Tax & Assessment Search | $35 |
| Tideland Search | $35 |
| Title Examination | $100 |
| Flood Certificate | $10 |
| Post Closing Settlement | $100 |
| Closing Document & Payment Disbursements | $65 |
| Settlement Agent and Closing Coordination | $465 |
| Notice of Settlement Filing | $24 |
| Transaction Management Platform | $40 |
| County Filing Verification | $30 |
| Service | Amount |
|---|---|
| Alta 8.1 Environmental Protection Lien Endorsement Your bank wants to protect their investment too. So they require a common add-on (or endorsement) in case a government entity places an environmental lien on the property for any reason. | $25 |
| Alta 9.10-06 Encroachment / Easement/ Mineral Rights Endorsement Your bank has a bunch of experience protecting their investment. So they also require this common add-on (or endorsement) to protect their mortgage from enroachments, land restrictions, special use conditions, and mineral rights that might be attached to the property. | $25 |
| Underwriter Protection Acknowledgement (CPL) A pledge from the title underwriter (the insurance company that backs us) to the lender stating that the lender is protected against any fraud or mismanagement of their funds in escrow. | $75 |
| Closing Document & Payment Disbursements All parties don't attend closing. This line item covers copies, overnight deliveries, and wires to creditors, lenders, sellers, realtors, and attorneys. | $65 |
| County Title Search We send a searcher to the county courthouse to pull a minimum 40-60 years of history on the property that you are buying. | $100 |
| US District & Superior Court Search "In New Jersey, judgments are levied as liens against real estate for 20-years. We run judgment searches on every name within the statute of limitations to make sure there are no judgment liens against the property. | $70 |
| Property Tax & Assessment Search This certified report is chock-full of important data: accurate property tax info, water and sewer balances, municipal CO and fire department requirements, vacant lot charges, and a whole lot more! | $35 |
| Tideland Search In New Jersey, the state mantains an interest on any land that has ever been part of a natural water basin. This search uses a bunch of geological maps, surveys, and other resources to indicate whether or not New Jersey has any claim on the land you're buying. | $35 |
| Title Examination This is where things get interesting! It takes a special, detailed expert to pore over various searches. Once done, an important report called a Title Commitment is created and issued. | $100 |
| Flood Certificate Can you guess what this means? Correct! This search determines whether your future property is in a flood zone or not. If it is, your lender may require you to buy flood insurance | $10 |
| Post Closing Settlement After closing, our job isn't done yet! Besides the seller and the attorney, we need to pay realtors, surveyors, property taxes, previous lenders, final water bills. On average, we cut 15 checks for every closing! We also record the new deed and mortgage, check to make sure it was done properly, issue a title policy. Lastly, if there is any money held in escrow, we reconcile those after closing. | $100 |
| Settlement Agent and Closing Coordination Closing Day! We coordinate closing documents, settlement statement amounts and a closing date. Finally, our closer/notary will walk you through the closing either at our office or a location convenient for you. Did we mention we can close in 5 different languages or anywhere in NJ? We even closed in a hospital once! | $465 |
| Notice of Settlement Filing Notices of Settlements are a crucial part of defending your title. This document, which we record at the beginning of the closing process, acts like a shield against sellers attempting to take out some last-minute debt, or selling the property to two buyers at the same time (this has happened before!). This is the cost that the county charges us to record. | $44 |
| Transaction Management Platform Keeping track all of the above requires the use of a pretty sophisticated software that is constantly updated to follow changing rules and regulations in our industry. We pay $35 for every file we processs. | $40 |
| County Filing Verification Part of the wrap-up process is making sure that all the important instruments were properly recorded. We send a searcher BACK to the county about ten days after closing to make sure all the documents are on record! | $30 |
| Simultaneous Issue This service allows us to issue an owners policy at the same time we issue a lender's policy saving you plenty of money. Since all of the work is done to insure the lender, you save money on any overlapping searches and coverage protecting yourself at only a fraction of the price. Not getting one to protect yourself if you are already getting a lender's policy is even crazier! | $25 |
| Total ServicesActions needed to happen to insure property to be purchased. | 1244.00 |
| Total Estimate (Premiums+Services) | 1,600.00 |
| Alta 8.1 Environmental Protection Lien Endorsement | $25 |
| Alta 9.10-06 Encroachment / Easement/ Mineral Rights Endorsement | $25 |
| Underwriter Protection Acknowledgement (CPL) | $75 |
| Closing Document & Payment Disbursements | $65 |
| County Title Search | $100 |
| US District & Superior Court Search | $70 |
| Property Tax & Assessment Search | $35 |
| Tideland Search | $35 |
| Title Examination | $100 |
| Flood Certificate | $10 |
| Post Closing Settlement | $100 |
| Settlement Agent and Closing Coordination | $465 |
| Notice of Settlement Filing | $44 |
| Transaction Management Platform | $40 |
| County Filing Verification | $30 |
| Simultaneous Issue | $25 |
| Service | Amount |
|---|---|
| Alta 8.1 Environmental Protection Lien Endorsement Your bank wants to protect their investment too. So they require a common add-on (or endorsement) in case a government entity places an environmental lien on the property for any reason. | $25 |
| Alta 9.10-06 Encroachment / Easement/ Mineral Rights Endorsement Your bank has a bunch of experience protecting their investment. So they also require this common add-on (or endorsement) to protect their mortgage from enroachments, land restrictions, special use conditions, and mineral rights that might be attached to the property. | $25 |
| Underwriter Protection Acknowledgement (CPL) A pledge from the title underwriter (the insurance company that backs us) to the lender stating that the lender is protected against any fraud or mismanagement of their funds in escrow. | $75 |
| Closing Document & Payment Disbursements All parties don't attend closing. This line item covers copies, overnight deliveries, and wires to creditors, lenders, sellers, realtors, and attorneys. | $65 |
| County Title Search We send a searcher to the county courthouse to pull a minimum of 40-60 years of history on the property that you are buying. | $60 |
| US District & Superior Court Search "In New Jersey, judgments are levied as liens against real estate for 20-years. We run judgment searches on every name within the statute of limitations to make sure there are no judgment liens against the property." | $70 |
| Property Tax & Assessment Search This certified report is chock-full of important data: accurate property tax info, water and sewer balances, municipal CO and fire department requirements, vacant lot charges, and a whole lot more! | $35 |
| Tideland Search In New Jersey, the state mantains an interest on any land that has ever been part of a natural water basin. This search uses a bunch of geological maps, surveys, and other resources to indicate whether or not New Jersey has any claim on the land you're buying. | $35 |
| Title Examination This is where things get interesting! It takes a special, detailed expert to pore over various searches. Once done, an important report called a Title Commitment is created and issued. | $100 |
| Flood Certificate Can you guess what this means? Correct! This search determines whether your future property is in a flood zone or not. If it is, your lender may require you to buy flood insurance | $10 |
| Post Closing Settlement After closing, our job isn't done yet! We still need to pay off prior debtors, record the new mortgage, verify it was properly recorded, issue a title policy. | $75 |
| Settlement Agent and Closing Coordination Closing Day! We coordinate closing documents, settlement statement amounts and a closing date. Finally, our closer/notary will walk you through the closing either at our office or a location convenient for you. Did we mention we can close in 5 different languages or anywhere in NJ? We even closed in a hospital once! | $415 |
| Notice of Settlement Filing Notices of Settlements are a crucial part of defending your title and the lender's loan. This document, which we record at the beginning of the closing process, acts like a shield against borrowers attempting to take out some last-minute debt, or borrowing from two lenders at the same time (this has happened before!). This is the cost that the county charges us to record. | $24 |
| Transaction Management Platform Keeping track all of the above requires the use of a pretty sophisticated software that is constantly updated to follow changing rules and regulations in our industry. We pay $35 for every file we processs. | $40 |
| County Filing Verification Part of the wrap-up process is making sure that all the important instruments were properly recorded. We send a searcher BACK to the county about ten days after closing to make sure all the documents are on record! | $30 |
| Total Services Actions needed to happen to insure property to be purchased. | 1084.00 |
| Total Estimate (Premiums+Services) | 1,600.00 |
| Alta 8.1 Environmental Protection Lien Endorsement | $25 |
| Alta 9.10-06 Encroachment / Easement/ Mineral Rights Endorsement | $25 |
| Underwriter Protection Acknowledgement (CPL) | $75 |
| Closing Document & Payment Disbursements | $65 |
| County Title Search | $60 |
| US District & Superior Court Search | $70 |
| Property Tax & Assessment Search | $35 |
| Tideland Search | $35 |
| Title Examination | $100 |
| Flood Certificate | $10 |
| Post Closing Settlement | $75 |
| Settlement Agent and Closing Coordination | $415 |
| Notice of Settlement Filing | $24 |
| Transaction Management Platform | $40 |
| County Filing Verification | $30 |
Although we do our best to be accurate there may be variables that need to be considered in determining the final rate including transaction or lender specific requirements.
All quotes are dependent upon the accuracy of the information provided. More often than not, a change in purchase price or loan amount will affect your estimate.
Other common items that can affect your estimate: additional endorsements, chancery abstract, corporate status report and/or probate copies (read more about these items here).
Talk to a Title Guide about your estimate.
*This does not apply to commercial or foreclosure properties.
The Realty Transfer Fee (RTF), also known as Realty Transfer Tax, was established in New Jersey in 1968 to offset the costs of tracking real estate transactions.
Upon the transfer of the deed to the buyers the seller pays the RTF, which is based on their property sale price. Payment of the RTF is a prerequisite for recording the deed, and it should be noted that in addition to the transfer fee paid by the sellers, a 1% fee must be paid by the buyer on all transactions over $1,000,000 in all commercial and residential property classes. This means that the buyer must pay 1% of the sales price upon recording the deed.
The RTF is usually collected at the real estate closing by the legal representatives or title insurance agents responsible for recording the deed at the county registry offices. Funds from the RTF are then shared between the state and counties. The state portion of the revenue is allocated to neighborhood revitalization, shore protection, and the state's general fund. The counties are responsible for disbursement of their portion of the revenue.
The RTF does not apply to sales for less than $100, or those transactions made between spouses or parents and children. Senior citizens, blind or disabled persons and low-and moderate-income housing continue to be exempt from the state portion of the basic fee.
An Affidavit of Consideration must be filed with any deed in which a full or partial exemption is claimed from the RTF. More information on the RTF is available from the New Jersey Department of the Treasury or by calling (609) 292-7974.
Questions about your RTF? Contact us here