Quote:
Originally Posted by Challenger
Not buying title insurance is generally a pennywise and pound folish move IMHO, especially if you do not have a mortgage. A home is the largest single investment most people will ever have . I have be involved with community banks for over fifty years and have seen large payoffs by title insurance companies. Sometimes this takes the form of defending the owner against unjustified claims. The premium is paid once and covers the insured for the duration of ownership. A small price to pay .
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We are spending time in TV, off and on, as we decide if buying a second home is what we really want to do. We are not there right now, but when I saw this thread appear, I thought it could be an appropriate place to make a suggestion.
First of all, I completely agree with Challenger's post. In fact, Challenger has used a phrase that I often find myself using to describe pickles that people can get themselves into. "Penny wise and pound-foolish" Another phrase I use when thinking through financial decisions is "What is the cost of sleep?" (answers will vary on that one)
Sometimes people are so happy with being able to pay cash for a home that they forget to stop and think through the title insurance issue of bank requirement. No mortgage. No bank. Yay! But......cash buyers sometimes forget that when you pay cash, you are the bank. You need to think like a bank.
I hope I do not come off as heavy-handed when I start in on these topics. Generally, what I try to do is to help those who might be interested in finding more information to consider before they make big financial decisions. (And I always include my disclaimer to let you know that I have no pieces of paper that say I am a financial adviser and could even be an English major for all anybody knows.) For some reason, I have, for many years, had a pretty decent comfort-level with making financial decisions. I hope I stay that way, but who knows. These things I write are only for your consideration. I hope I never sound like I am trying to act like I know everything because I sure don't. But I digress.....
So anyway, here is what I want to suggest to anybody who's into learning more about what they might not know about financial stuff....
One day when we were in TV, I saw an ad in the paper for a law firm that was offering a little seminar on FSBO's and other real estate topics that included title insurance. Well, I thought it sounded interesting so I signed up. When I got there, I found that there were other topics covered, too. The topics included trusts and other things that pertain to financial life. Pre-nups came up. They also talked about things that those who live together as committed, loving, though unmarried, couples need to know about how financial matters can affect them -- but maybe not in the way they thought they had planned.
Good info was presented and also they addressed some of those "penny-wise and pound foolish" decisions that people make while thinking they know what they don't know. One had to with titling your house with an adult-child or someone who would be an heir. (Doing so possibly could introduce extremely serious risk to the asset while the real homeowners are still alive. But people do this all the time thinking they are avoiding probate or taxes or whatever I guess. But it should not be done without seeking good legal advice first to learn about the risks that could be involved.)
And a long time ago, I started a thread here where we discussed pre-nups. So, of course, I thought that was interesting.
So anyway, I am not a financial adviser nor am I a lawyer. (although I sometimes wonder if I could have been going to law school for the past 3 years instead of sitting here posting on TOTV. I would have been taking the bar by now probably.
) I digress once more.....
Back to the seminar.....There were different attorneys who spoke on the various topics. It was time well-spent. A lot of information in a relatively short time period.
So if you see an ad in The Daily Sun for one of these seminars, I suggest that if you are interested in learning more about this stuff, sign yourself up. The office was located north of TV on 441 somewhere close to a Lutheran church as I recall.
Nobody tried to pressure anybody about anything. They were just making their services known.
Also, as a little added bonus, while we were learning all kinds of things from the attorneys who were speaking and answering questions, Mr. Boomer was especially happy because we were sitting near the table where they had some wonderful cookies for us.
So anyway, just a suggestion. I am recommending the seminar. I have not used the attorneys. Of course, they are into title insurance there, but they explain some good reasons for it. Surveys anyone?
And, Challenger, I am a big fan of those good, solid, community banks who did things right throughout this mess that continues to grow arms and legs reaching into so many aspects of our economy. I am a small investor in individual stocks. I welcome a good market, but I also strongly believe that "Unrestrained greed is not only bad morals, it's bad economics." (I think I just digressed again.)
Boomer