Performing a title search, reviewing the public records and then securing a title policy commitment are all important steps toward protecting a buyer and their lender during a residential real estate transaction.
As a real estate professional working as a buyer’s agent, you want to facilitate a smooth and painless closing for your client. Generally, buyers have the right to choose any title company they want, but they often defer to the real estate agent representing them.
You could choose a giant conglomerate company that issues thousands of policies every month, or you could go with a local real estate attorney to do a title search. There are some distinct benefits that come from working with a local title service.
Around-the-clock support and access
Most title companies work on bank hours. They closed down on weekends and federal holidays. Their staff will usually only be available during standard business hours, and their support center might not even be in Florida. You may need to call several times zones away to reach support.
Title work is often crucial to a successful closing, so doing it quickly and competently is important, partnering with someone who is accessible in the evening, on the weekends and even over the holidays in an emergency can help you provide the best possible service to your clients.
Local title services have more accountability to their clients
The big title companies turn out so many policies that when they make mistakes, they can just absorb the financial losses that come from funding a title defense or reimbursing a policyholder for the loss of their home.
You don’t want your clients to have to go through that kind of nightmare, so it makes more sense to make title decisions based on accuracy rather than on the prominence of the company providing the services.
Your project is the only priority in the pipeline
If you need expedited title processing, you can expect a lot of promises and little follow-through from big companies. They have a specific pipeline using unskilled and often undercompensated workers that turn out policies in the order that people pay for them.
The sooner you need to get the closing, the more valuable bringing in a local title service can be. You can have confidence in the accuracy while also having a much faster turnaround than you would expect from a big business where you are just one of hundreds of current customers.
Getting the right support for title services during a residential closing can help you optimize the service that you provide your clients.