Register Real Estate Advisors

I have found that some consumers want to choose their own title company when they are purchasing a home. It is their right, of course, to choose. However, on what basis is a consumer choosing a title company? It has been my experience that when you allow your Realtor to choose the title company, you have a much smoother closing. This is because title companies work for Realtor business, not consumer business. So title companies want to make Realtors happy so they will repeatedly use their services. So when I use a title company of my choice for my clients, I know they will get great service and I have no fear of the title company going under with their earnest money. I also know I will get all my documents in a timely fashion and if there is a problem, I have someone I can directly contact and trust to resolve it. However, when consumers purchase Foreclosure properties, they usually do not get a choice on their title company. The seller decides or they make the buyer pay for the title insurance.

On a recent transaction I had a buyer that was purchasing a foreclosed home. The title company was chosen by the seller and it took them weeks to get the documents that the lender was requesting. Since the title company was out of town, they did a remote closing at my office. That means the title company sent a notary to get all of the documents signed. Unfortunately in this case, the title company did not send all the docs with the notary. So the next day when we were waiting for funding and my clients were waiting to get the keys to their new house, my clients and I found out they had to come back and sign more documents. Imagine my outrage! Then after the closing the title company did not send copies of the closing documents to my buyers. We had to both request copies several times before they were emailed to them. There are so many things that can hold up funding on a loan. You don’t want your title company to be the reason you don’t get into the home of your dreams. What if we’d had to wait to get docs signed and the lock on the loan expired? We could have lost the entire deal. You want to work with a title company that has a good reputation with your Realtor. One that your Realtor trusts to take care of all necessary details. Trust your Realtor, because is they are worth your real estate business, they know which title company will take good care of you!

1.  It protects your ownership right to your home both from fraudulent claims against your ownership and from mistakes made in earlier sales, such as mistake in the spelling of a person’s name or an inaccurate description of the property.

2.  It’s a one-time cost usually based on the price of the property.

3.  It’s usually paid for by the sellers.

4.  There are both lender titles policies, which protect the lender, and owner title policies, which protect you.  The lender will probably require a lender policy.

5.  Discounts on premiums are sometimes available if the home has been bought within only a few years since not as much work is required to check the title.  Ask the title company if this discount is available.

Reprinted from REALTOR Magazine Online by permission of the National Association of REALTORS. Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.

First American Title Insurance Company has a great answer to those questions!

A title insurance policy is an insured statement of the condition of title, or ownership of real property.  Prior to the issuance of a policy, a title report or commitment is prepared after a search of records, maps and documents affecting the parcel in question.  For a one-time premium, the policy protects the named insured against title defects, liens and encumbrances existing as of the date of the policy and not specially excepted from coverage.  First American Title Insurance Compnay stands behind it’s product.  Make sure you choose a good title insurance before you close on your next property.