There are also services that have a lot of choices.

However, if you are left to that choice call the listing agent and work with them.

Buyer acknowledges that during the course of Buyer's negotiation with Seller, Seller selected its choice of (i) title insurance company licensed in the state where the Property is located to provide Buyer with its title insurance policy(ies) (the “Seller Title Provider”), and (ii) the closing agent, and Buyer was given the option of either: (a) Approving the Seller-selected closing agent and the Seller Title Provider, in which case Seller would pay for the cost of Buyer's title insurance policies and all related search fees in accordance with Section 8.2.2 hereof, AND one-half of all escrow and closing fees charged by Seller-selected closing agent, not to exceed Four Hundred Fifty Dollars and NO/100 ($450.00), unless otherwise required by law or agreed to in writing between the Parties; or (b) Rejecting the Seller-selected closing agent and the Seller Title Provider in favor of a different closing agent and title insurance company licensed in the state where the Property is located to provide Buyer with its title insurance policy(ies) (“Buyer Title Provider”), in which case Buyer would pay for the entire cost of Buyer's title insurance policies and all related search fees and all of the escrow and closing fees charged by the Buyer-selected closing agent, without any contribution from Seller, and the provisions of section 8.2.1 shall apply"With the Owner's policy I will still be responsible for Lis pendens for code violations or not ?

Easier to rent in the summer, plus there will be more choices for them to rent or buy.

Maybe the best choice is to spend the next year or 2 working, saving all you can, learning, and developing a network.

Anyways, this is my first post and I'm scrolling on a wholesale website where foreclosures and motivated sellers are choices.

All in all I think there are two good choices: 1.

My question is, given the choice, would you prefer to have an escrow account or pay tax/insurance yourself and any solid reasons why one is better than the other?

If you offer someone a choice between $1,000 worth of gold or $1,000 of U.S. currency, most people would choose the cash over the gold. 

Think about what drove your last purchase: frugality, good value, status, art, compassion, health, comfort, athleticism, kindness, wealth, status, pursuit of wisdom, mastery, or achievement, whatever-- your TRUE values are always reflected in how you spend your money and your time.If you can figure out why you each make the choices you make regarding money and time, you'll be able to understand how you can invest in real estate AND meet both your own needs and your wifes' needs.