When we bought our last house, the title transfer alone was about $500 (a couple hundred went to the state just to file), and the title insurance was about $750

When we bought our last house, the title transfer alone was about $500 (a couple hundred went to the state just to file), and the title insurance was about $750. My understanding is that even if we got the house for free, we would still have to have paid this amount. The insurance is crazy part when you think about it. Even paying the $500, there's not a guarantee you actually rightfully had the title.