I well remember the tips at closing in NY And coming from other states H and I were incredulous. We really didn’t believe it when we were told to bring cash to closing for tips. Who tips professionals who are getting paid for doing their jobs? I seem to recall too that the attorney, who was well paid, had a clause in his contract saying he wasn’t responsible for any errors he might make. It’s a Magic Kngdom for some. It could help explain why we’ve only bought one house in 37 years of marriage.
There are regional differences, for sure. We looked at real estate in Los Alamos, NM. Because the entire town was once owned by the federal government, there was some fee that buyers were expected to reimburse sellers for. It was a practice that began when property first went from government into public hands. We’d asked about using an attorney and it just wasn’t done there. (Maybe an attorney would have questioned this “fee” that was passed along?). IIRC, it was about $400, more than we paid in mandatory “tips.” Then again, the NM property taxes were so low we thought it was billed quarterly when it was an annual total.
Coralbrook - it was the guy from the title company who got a cash tip, handed over in plain view of everyone at the closing, so it had to be legit. I’m sure he claimed it on his income taxes.
Interesting question, oregon. The closing could just as easily have been a sociological experiment in how people respond to pressure. We caved, trusting that our attorney represented our interests and we were trying to respect the culture. I’ve lived in several states and one other country and this is the most politically corrupt place I’ve seen. Lots of working under the table, cash discounts for services. Sounds bad but it’s home now.
Back to refrigerators and other freestanding appliances. I would much rather choose mine. I was thankful my 20 year old refrigerator made it past our house sale so I didn’t need to replace it. Current house- renovated and kept the good stove but managed to find a way over a couple of years to replace mismatched/disliked appliances.
Got rid of a beige side by side refrigerator- prefer French doors. Niece elsewhere just built and prefers a side by side. Personal preferences. Busenburner yours may be a special case, however with restrictions on dimensions.
It seems to me the appliances one can easily buy would not be deal killers- just price adjustments. Needing to repaint most of the house and other find a worker or take a lot of time to do it seem to me to be more of a problem. We were new to the area and had no clues about who to hire. But, faced the learning curve and got it all done. It is OUR house, the next owner (in 20 years or so when we can’t mange anymore) can do the stuff we didn’t (popcorn ceilings anyone? I hate them, H didn’t mind and he won).
@wis75 - we got a very nice French door fridge by KitchenAid. It is quite well reviewed. Now I know I despise French doors. Our House2 has a big ass Subzero side by side… Biggest I have seen. Love it. One compartment, no rummaging and no bending to get frozen stuff. I will cry the day it dies.
It was interesting to learn about state differences in RE transactions…
Wow, I wonder what Organized Crime syndicate or Title Worker’s Union started that tradition to ‘tip’ the title company worker? I mean really??? I can just see the fights going on back at the title company office for who gets to work on the $1 million dollar transaction versus the $250k transaction. It just doesn’t feel right. I would think there is a slight conflict of interest for title research. Some guy wants his tip so bad, he slides past a blip in the legal title chain to get the transaction to go through, putting his title insurance company at risk.
Any journalists in any of your families? This looks like it would make a great investigative or feature article! Tipping paper pushers at closing??? Those of us in flyover country might have trouble believing this really happens.
I have no idea if the lack of closed sales is due to no one shopping for homes in this particular 'hood (so sellers sit out) or no one selling. RE in my neck of the woods is very compartmentalized, meaning that in some neighborhoods there will be price wars and in some - zippo. However, a house not too far from us went pending 3 days into listing and closed not so long ago, over ask. Fingers crossed.
I can testify that the tipping the title person thing in NY, at least in Westchester County, has been standard practice for at least 30 years. I remember being outraged when I heard about it.
In CT, no one from the title company attends the closing. In NY they have to be there to collect their tip. I’ve been trying to remember how much my friends had to lay out. Could it possibly have been $250 or $400? Is that way too much? I have the impression that the size of the tip was not necessarily proportionate to the price of the property: it seemed to be a standard amount. Or maybe my memory is faulty, especially since it wasn’t my transaction.
My recollection was a couple of hundred and it did not appear to be linked to the size of the house. It was a lot of money to us the first time we bought a house. The second time I knew that we needed to have a cushion. The thing that happened at the second closing was that our sellers turned out to have a second mortgage they hadn’t properly closed out. There was a lot of mad faxing back and forth, but thankfully we didn’t end up having to reschedule.
The tipping custom does sound bizarre and, although I’ve lived most of my life in different parts of the northeast, I’d never heard of it before its mention here. But, my guess is that if tipping went by the wayside, they’d just increase fees to make up for it.
In FL, lawyers are generally used. My sister wanted our attorney, a relative by marriage, to receive a tip, as well as the realtor. I explained that lawyers get a % of sale, which is far more than the hour of work he did.
Our House2 has a big ass Subzero side by side… Biggest I have seen. Love it. One compartment, no rummaging and no bending to get frozen stuff. I will cry the day it dies. 
I’ve been trying to remember how much my friends had to lay out. Could it possibly have been $250 or $400? Is that way too much? I have the impression that the size of the tip was not necessarily proportionate to the price of the property: it seemed to be a standard amount. Or maybe my memory is faulty, especially since it wasn’t my transaction.