Clear Skies Title AgencyClear Skies Title Agency
You can save hundreds of dollars researching your real estate title agency. So why would you let your attorney or lender choose for you?
Read on to learn how Clear Skies can help you close on your home.
Exercising your right to choose not only has the potential to save you money and make sure you have the best closing experience, it also ensures that the title agency is truly YOUR real estate title agency and beholden to you.
Most attorneys, lenders and realtors have a relationship with a title agency simply because of a personal relationship or a financial relationship and not necessarily because they are the best.
In the latter type of relationship, most of these title agencies are more expensive and have a lower level of service and rely on financial incentives.
The problem is that it impacts the unsuspecting and uneducated homebuyer—and this happens A LOT!
Though Real Estate Title Insurance isn’t often talked about, it’s a part of every real estate transaction.
Basically, Title Insurance prevents people, companies, and creditors, from the past, returning and having a claim to your home. Of course, there’s a lot that goes into making that happen — our team examines 40-60 years worth of deeds, names, judgements, taxes and liens!
Many title agencies word their estimates with confusing and technical language. Some hide service fees needed for insurance or settlement only to hike up costs hours before closing.
Using our Instant Calculator will give you confidence that you are paying for only what you need to protect your property and close on your new home — easy, transparent and 98% accurate (your lender may require additional services). Also beware of estimates that come from a lender or are not on the letterhead or website of a real estate title agency.
Comparing Google reviews and social media outlets as well as asking for quotes that you can use to keep a company honest are good starts. Watch out for companies with little or no reviews especially if the company is well established. That usually isn’t a good sign.
We have many fans that have kindly shared their experiences on Google, Facebook and Yelp. Check them out!
Buying a home is expensive and we want to save you money anywhere we can.
Our estimates include everything you and your lender (if you have one) need to insure and close on your new home. No additional fees or surprise charges right before closing! Just the bare minimum!
| 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.
Following contract approval, ask your attorney to place your real estate title order with Clear Skies Title.
We search 40+ years of a property’s history identifying Chain of Title (history of ownership), Title Abstract, and judgements (easements, liens, etc.) and title clouds.
Our examiners help to remove clouds and verify whether any real estate taxes, special assessments or property association dues are outstanding. They notify the responsible parties of any issues prior to commitment.
Both buyers and lenders are provided an insurance policy commitment that describes what needs to be accomplished prior to closing.
Your dedicated Closing Coordinator works with your lender and attorney to create your closing documents.
The closing requires buyers and sellers to sign the required documents completing your purchase process.
Our team follows through the closing by recording the deed/mortgage; paying off various bills, commissions, and outstanding taxes; and issuing real estate title insurance policies to both buyer and lender.
This crew is excited to talk about real estate title insurance and our settlement process! Let’s chat!