Understanding Title Insurance

Title to a property is a record detailing the owners of the property and rights associated with the ownership. Title typically shows a progression of ownership from the first owner to the current one. Title is a fairly simple concept, but when it goes wrong it is a nightmare. That is where title insurance comes in.

Title Insurance

Title insurance guarantees that the title on a property is marketable when you purchase the home, condo, land, etc. You should always pay for title insurance. It typically costs a few hundred dollars and will save you a bundle if problems arise.

When you buy title insurance, a title insurance company researches the title for the property. The insurance company will look to see if the title is clear. "Clear" simply means that the seller is truly transferring title to you and no other person can claim ownership. While this sounds fairly simple, rest assured that title problems arise all of the time.

Title Problems

You might be wondering how you could possibly have title problems. Here are a few examples:

1. Divorcing Couples - Divorce is unpleasant and sometime very ugly. In particularly nasty situations, one spouse may attempt to sell a home without telling the other. To gain clear title, you need both spouses to sign off on the sale. If you don't, you are going to become a party of the divorce proceedings. Now, wouldn't that be fun?

2. Estate Sales - If you are purchasing a house as part of an estate sale, there can be real problems. The heirs may not be getting along and in an effort to "get what's mine", may try to sell the residence without including all the heirs in the transaction. If you buy this home, you could end up involved in a lawsuit filed by an heir left out of the transaction.

3. Ingress and Egress Issues - Title to a property can have technical issues related to egress and ingress. Occasionally, one finds title to a property that is so messed up that the owner doesn't have the right to enter or leave the land because to do so would require crossing another person's property. In short, the property is landlocked and something must be worked out with the neighbors. Typically, a solution comes in the form of hard, cold cash?lots of it.

These are just a few issues that can arise with title. With real estate, unique issues can arise all the time.

If you buy title insurance, you don't have to worry about problems with title. If a problem arises, you calmly pick up the phone and call the title insurance company. The insurance company will come up with a solution, even if it means paying you for bad title.

Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing homes for sale by owner, "FSBO", properties. Are you thinking, "Should I sell my home?" Visit http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your home sale for free for one month.

MORE RESOURCES:

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Investment Regimes for Indian Real Estate Sector Explored - MarketWatch

Moody#39;s: Commercial real estate prices rise - CNNMoney.com

Winston amp; Strawn Continues Growth; Adds 19 Litigation, Corporate ... - MarketWatch

Architects see drop in real estate design contracts - Los Angeles Times

Target shareholder revises real estate proposal - The Associated Press

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Commercial Real Estate Debt Index Plummets - Wall Street Journal

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122703851606838297.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsjcid=1271977795ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNGMeGSADeqJM279WVadN3tofRgXFQCommercial bReal Estate/b Debt Index Plummets/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWall Street Journalnbsp;-/font nobrNov 18, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By PRABHA NATARAJAN WASHINGTON -- A commercial breal estate/b debt index plummeted Tuesday after a Credit Suisse research report warned that two loans included b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-1fd=Rurl=http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1933428520081119cid=1271977795ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNF3dZIPphqxo36fLk4Q_JHDXqhjBwUPDATE 1-Economy, TARP conspire against commercial mortgages/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-2fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601087%26sid%3Da7v3wNC8x9WA%26refer%3Dhomecid=1271977795ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNG-psJtaY_vKsjLZ1elORWhb3EPkQWestin, Promenade Commercial Mortgages Near Default (Update2)/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBloomberg/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-3fd=Rurl=http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1826572220081118cid=1271977795ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHl-bla-sA5rr0sKwC-w0QWEvoxUQUPDATE 1-Big CMBS loans seen near default, index yields soar/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-4fd=Rurl=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122703851606838297.html%3Fmod%3Dspecial_page_campaign2008_mostpopcid=1271977795ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNELQI5yH17uOclVNM3fpsUjM9JEBgnobrWall Street Journal/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-5fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601087%26sid%3Da0GR3cE_UyEE%26refer%3Dhomecid=1271977795ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHwo2hYeQ732RH4UM4GvfC6mF91CgnobrBloomberg/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1271977795hl=ennobrall 31 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust announces monthly cash distribution - FOXBusiness

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/artis-real-estate-investment-trust-announces-monthly-cash-distribution-319904495/cid=1272287796ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNFIHLK61OyW1-fuEJM7IfuNkCHtYgArtis bReal Estate/b Investment Trust announces monthly cash distribution/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fFOXBusinessnbsp;-/font nobr8 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Artis is a growth-oriented breal estate/b investment trust focused exclusively on commercial properties located in primary and growing secondary markets in b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-1fd=Rurl=http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D2192:amid-global-economic-slowdown-investors-are-well-advised-to-train-their-sights-on-real-estate-%26catid%3D47:propertiescid=1272287796ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNEJQyT-rJnCHUE4hoaDtCy7jpxyDA‘Amid global economic slowdown, investors are well-advised to b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBusiness Mirror/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-2fd=Rurl=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2008/19/c2246.htmlcid=1272287796ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHusGJLBEBF1obZ9Gj4pd_XE1SpdQCrombie REIT announces monthly distribution/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCanada NewsWire (press release)/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-3fd=Rurl=http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/investors-real-estate-trust-announces-increase-regular-quarterly-common-share-1154743513/cid=1272287796ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHZi9YKYUUQUpHtPJ1HFOsEzXBWaQInvestors bReal Estate/b Trust Announces Increase in Regular b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrFOXBusiness/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-4fd=Rurl=http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/holloway-lodging-real-estate-investment-trust-announces-monthly-distribution-1482787386/cid=1272287796ei=3GAlSYGWN4qWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNGl9skjy74H84tDEHfRla2oeqL9DgnobrFOXBusiness/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272287796hl=ennobrall 24 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

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