What a great thread! Let’s hear some more… - Posted by Eric C
Posted by Eric C on February 19, 2001 at 13:10:32:
Hi all -
Let’s hear some more from Mr. Goodson, Tim Randle, Nate, Rob FL, and others.
I have to admit that when I first began in this business, I didn’t always get title insurance, and there even was the occasional instance where I didn’t even check the title too closely.
Do I do that now? Never! Well, almost never. I might if I thought the risk level was low enough, but probably not.
I’ve had properties that one title insurance company would refuse to insure, or they would drag their feet until the deal was almost dead, and yet another title company just down the street would have no problems insuring title for the exact same transaction,same property, and same parties.
My take is that title companies are like any other institution made up of people – the level of professionalism, business smarts, and just plain old good common sense varies greatly from company to company.
So, if you don’t find an answer you like, you might want to move on down the street a little bit.
As I get older, I try (key word here is try) to think my deals through more carefully. While accomodating change is always vital, starting over from scratch is not a skill I wish to hone any further.
Title insurance, asset protection strategies, and other “details” become more and more important as your wealth increases. Duh…
Here in Dallas some years ago(1995?), they had a fellow who had sold about 65 properties (carrying the financing on all)who ended up having ALL of them unravel before his eyes and on the front page of the Dallas Morning News. He made some mistakes. Simple mistakes. Costly mistakes.
Starting over for him was no longer optional.
I acknowledge that there is a great deal of expertise here regarding title companies, title insurance, etc. All of these folks have valid points of view.
For me, I’ll probably just keep doing what I’m doing until someone convinces me otherwise. I’m not opposed to changing my mind, it’s just that I haven’t heard a really convincing argument yet. In any case, I have to take responsibility for myself. I’ve seen too much “squirrely” paperwork over the years. Some of it is “homemade”, some of it is institutional, and some of it is just plain fraud. (I’d much rather do without fire insurance than title insurance in most cases)
Speaking of less than ethical behavior, a neighbor of mine owned a large title company for many, many years. He’s now 90 years old and I’ve always marveled that he didn’t get shot. In his younger days, he was famous for coming up with “new paperwork” whenever the mood (and cash) struck him. His son was later indicted on Federal fraud charges but even large oil companies learned the hard way not to deal with this firm. Think you’d have a chance?
But enough war stories from me. Let’s hear some more about the title issues. I already know what I’m going to do and why. Other will (and should) take the same facts and yet come to different conclusions. That’s OK.
More, more…
Yours,
Eric C
PS - Tim, if you buy me a beer one of these days, I’ll tell you how a local title company (your area) cost me a major deal. You could even title it “How I didn’t make a million dollars in one day!” Take care.