I have waived it in the past, for a fee, but then ended up refinancing or selling the property. I've also gotten a HELOC (free!) but have been forced to close it during a refi, to the tune of several hundred dollars. If you think you might do either, I'd get the escrow now and see if they will waive it for free later. I don't even want to think about the hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars I've paid upfront and then lost. We're doing a refi now and I decided to do escrow for the lower rate. I like having control but they haven't messed up my payments yet!