First American net sheet vs NetSheet.org

First American's net sheet tool for real estate agents is part of FirstAm IgniteRE. Its calculators page says you can "calculate net sheets, closing cost estimates, and more in seconds", and asks for your name, email, phone, company and location so that someone can follow up. Agents use the calculators from an IgniteRE account.

First American also runs the First American Comprehensive Calculator, a rate calculator for its title agents that covers premiums, endorsements, recording fees and transfer taxes. That one is a tool for title agencies, not a client-facing net sheet. Many local title agencies that issue First American policies also offer their own net sheet calculators on their websites.

• It starts with a contact form or an account. On the calculators page you leave your details first; the net sheets themselves are used from IgniteRE.
• It is built around First American's offices and fees. That is what you want when First American is closing the deal, and less useful when another company is.
• Several products, different audiences. IgniteRE is for real estate professionals; the Comprehensive Calculator is for title agents.

• Every state and DC. State, county and city transfer taxes, who customarily pays them, title and settlement customs, recording fees and prorations, filled in from the property's address.
• Any title or escrow company. NetSheet.org is independent. No title company sponsors or pays for your account, so there is no rep to unlock it and no office's fee schedule built in.
• No account to run a sheet. The calculator is free and works without signing up. A free account saves sheets and downloads the PDF.
• Seller and buyer sheets. Net to seller, or the buyer's cash to close with lender fees and prepaids.
• Your name on it. Professional ($10 a month) puts your logo on the PDF; Agency ($30 a month) adds emailing sheets from NetSheet.org and keeping track of client replies.
• Start from where you are. A Chrome extension turns a listing page into a net sheet, and the ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok connector makes one from a chat.

NetSheet.org's title premium and escrow fee are estimates of typical local charges. The closing title company's quote is the final word.

When First American, or a title agency issuing its policies, is closing the transaction, its own estimate is the better source for the escrow and title fees, because those are the fees on the settlement statement. NetSheet.org is useful before that: at the listing appointment, when comparing offers, in any of the 50 states and DC, or when you want the PDF to carry your name instead of a title company's.

Title premiums work differently by state. In Texas, for example, the state sets the premium, so the owner's policy costs the same at every title company. In most states each underwriter files its own rates, so the premium can differ from company to company. Either way, the final quote comes from the closing title company.