Usually people do an escrow account because they do not want to deal with making sure to save the money to pay for their property taxes and insurance. If you are disciplined, I would say go for it otherwise use the escrow.
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Like all things in life, it depends.
I’ve done it both ways. For my first two mortgages, the company collected my property and insurance money and held it in a non-interest-bearing escrow, and always trusted that the company made the payments on time (which happened).
For my current mortgage, I paid a %age fee upfront to not have the company escrow. So I pay for property tax and HO insurance on my own, just like any other bill.
An alternative to either is to put the money in a 6-month or 12-month CD that pays higher dividends, and pay your taxes and insurance when it matures.
Money management is an active discipline, and people aren’t taught it unless they teach themselves.
Definitely escrow. That way you don’t have to worry about saving for those expenses on your own.