For Those With Escrow-- How was 2011?

[gctattoo]

For those of you who pay your taxes/insurance through escrow: How'd you do for 2011? Did you have a surplus or deficit at year's end? In the instance of a deficit, will you pay it at once or accept the monthly increase?

~ We actually caught a break this year. Although our homeowner's insurance went up (again!) to create a deficit of $230 (which we won't pay right now), our payment is going down $1. I don't know why, but I'll take it.

And we are in the process of finding a new insurance company. We're paying over $1200 a year when I know there are places that are charging $700ish. Most likely because they don't make you carry insurance for things you don't actually own-- fine jewelry, firearms, expensive rugs, electronic equipment, etc. I don't have any of those things! So next year should be a different story altogether.

[mom23teens]

We are purchasing our first home and i just got a quote for $774.00 per year. Was wondering if that was average?

[chitownmelli]

Ours was $443 a year. All depends on the size/ value of the home, what it's made out of, neighborhood, crime rate, credit score, etc.

[mom2lucas]

We had a surplus to the tune that our total payment went down $20 a month. Our insurance is $600/year, and taxes are about $650.

Last year we had a deficient because our taxes went up, and we paid more per month. Apparently, they calculated wrong, leaving the surplus this year. Nothing changed from last year to this year.

[amylynne01]

We had a surplus of like $40 in our escrow, so they're keeping it. If it's over $50, we get a refund. Our payment went up like $1.50 because our taxes went up just slightly. Our home insurance is $556 a yr, and our taxes are $26XX.

[gctattoo]

I had never dealt with escrow before until DH and I moved into the house he shared with his ex before their divorce. We got a check for the surplus the first year and have had a deficit every since.

Well, no luck on finding cheaper insurance. All the little details of the house brought that quote back up to what we're paying already. I think the only way to lessen our mortgage amount is to refinance. We're paying over 9% in interest and the going rate is half that now.

But we're pretty lucky with our taxes. After the homestead exemption, we pay $400-$450 per year.

[NIGHTB1022]

I had never dealt with escrow before until DH and I moved into the house he shared with his ex before their divorce. We got a check for the surplus the first year and have had a deficit every since.

Well, no luck on finding cheaper insurance. All the little details of the house brought that quote back up to what we're paying already. I think the only way to lessen our mortgage amount is to refinance. We're paying over 9% in interest and the going rate is half that now.

But we're pretty lucky with our taxes. After the homestead exemption, we pay $400-$450 per year.

wow are you lucky, my taxes are $4900 a year and HO insurance is about $1150....there is never a surplus in our escrow. Since 2006 my payment has gone up over 200 bucks because of taxes & insurance....

[SLP99]

This was the first time-in 11 years of being in the house, that we received money BACK (every other year we've owed). We received a statement from the county last year that they had dropped the assessment on our house a little over $100,000! Which really didn't bother us because we have no plans to sell our home-I guess that's the only time the price of our house really matters. In December we received a check for a little over $800-the surplus in our escrow acct and even better....a notation that our mtg payent would be $97 less per month!

[CW&M Mom]

Ours sucked rocks!

The Mill levy which is what Kansas calls it..how they figure a portion of the property tax went up...so it added an extra $150 a month to our mortgage. Sad thing is our actual Property Tax Value on the home went down..just the stupid Mill Levy went up.

stupid Kansas.

[SLP99]

I'm waiting for the mill rate to go up here....so far so good, but I'm not sure what next year will be!