FeeDisclosure.com:
FeeDisclosure has developed a (patent pending) online portal to
breakdown complicated real estate vendor fees.
The FeeDisclosure system is designed to expose excessive transaction fees ("junk fees") by providing consumers with the knowledge to make informed decisions about real estate and mortgage transaction closing costs.
The site is still in Beta, but I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out with consumers over time.
Something like this is long overdue . . .
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Probably a very useful tool. A little late but then again, a few years back and who cared about fees. All you did was roll the into the mortgage.
A bit off subject but I read somewhere that the homies have considerable off balance sheet liabilities in the form of joint ventures. These were probably created in order to ‘bank’ land. Might be interesting to see who the other participants in the ‘joint’ are?
What a wonderful build-to-get-bought-and-quickly-shutdown idea.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and offer suggestions for our site. We are an innovative company that recognizes the feedback and input we receive from everyone only serves to help us improve and provide the best of ongoing features and benefits.
To help clarify the goals and benefits of our site, some points of note include:
We are providing a true, open marketplace for both consumers and service providers to connect with each other on the local level. There are no costs for consumers, and service providers may register and market themselves for free. Our goal is to increase the financial literacy of consumers who otherwise have a near impossible task to research what fees are valid and which are not. Mortgages are a function of both rates and fees.
The Department of Housing Urban Development (HUD) reported that excluding commissions, consumers spend $53 billion dollars in closing costs for real estate and mortgage transactions. HUD estimates that up to $17 billion dollars were excessive over charges (junk fees). Even more alarming, minorities and women are being charged as much as nine times more than Caucasians for a standard real estate and mortgage transaction. This is to say that regardless of your education and background, more likely than not, you have probably spent more than you should. At a minimum, our system provides you a free resource to at least compare and learn about fees.
We are not an advertising lead gen site, nor do we broker real estate or mortgage transactions. Our system is a Free and Open Platform for consumers to obtain up front information regarding the costs and fees associated with a real estate transaction. These fees and costs have been a consumer mystery for far too long. It should also be noted that the Federal Reserve Chairman supports legislation that will make it mandatory for this information to be provided Up Front per the attached link. Fee Disclosure will play a role in changing public policy. (NY Times article – [www.nytimes.com])
> Our site is an informational source providing consumers with information they have never had access to before. At the very least, ask for a Fee Disclosure report to use as a baseline to assess costs and fees. An open and fair loan professional or real estate agent will be happy to discuss your true fees.
> Vendors also have the opportunity to also list themselves for Free, provided they complete our required registration input and list their fees and service costs.
> Our revenue is generated via the professionals who want to provide their clients with a complete Fee Disclosure report. The cost to do so is only $99 per year and allows them to run as many reports as they want. Additionally, if they want to be highlighted as a featured member they can do so for $49 dollars per year. We limit these featured members to 5 per zip code. It should again be noted, this is not a requirement, and every vendor has the opportunity to join the site for Free. All vendors are available and easily accessible under the “View all vendor” links.
> Our system currently covers the nations 50 largest metro areas. We have service providers joining our Fee Disclosure community everyday. Rome was not built in a day. We may not have every zip code covered yet, but we will.
Our message is simple …. Request your Fee Disclosure Report… It’s Your Right..!
JD