Title Insurance

[KenMac]

If you do not finance your new TV home you have the option to not get title insurance.

When buying a new home from TV, is there anyone out there who opted to NOT get this title insurance?

Any comments, suggestions, research sites, etc.??

Any help will be appreciated.

[villages07]

I bought new a year ago without a mortgage and opted not to purchase title insurance. It would have been about $1,700. I asked around, did some web research, and came to the conclusion that if I have title problems then so do all my neighbors. I just figured it was pretty low risk on a new home. On a resale, there is more risk. I got quotes from several other companies other than the one the Villages uses but rates were pretty much the same. I believe FL sets rates. So, it's a matter of personal aversion to risk, past experience, etc.

[RayB]

There is a dominate misconception that if one finances a house the title insurance they must purchase is insurance which will benefit the home owner. Actually, that title insurance is to protect the finance company/bank against a defective title or mechanics lean. The home owner must purchase a home owners title insurance package to protect the home owner whether they finance or not. If you finance then you can get a home owners title insurance policy for not much more than the cost you are paying for the lenders title insurance policy since the title search is already completed for the lenders policy. I for one would never purchase a home without purchasing a HOME OWNERS Title Insurance policy. The one time cost is well worth it. You could loose you house without it. I am not rich enough to financially survive the loss of my house. I once purchased some property in Ohio which during the title search by my lawyers for the title insurance was discovered to have a very substantial mechanics lean on the property. This lean was by a contractor who was not paid by the seller of the property. Without the search, and if I had purchased the property as is, I would have had to pay the contractor in order to get a clear title on the property. I would suspect title insurance for the home owner now is more important than ever. The number of houses on the market and the slower sales on new houses makes for a higher potential for mechanics leans. The more empty new houses on the market the better the chance contractors have not been paid.

[F16 1UB]

:agree:

[KenMac]

Thank you all... I agree with all the comments concerning risk-reward - and in spite of the cost, will purchase TI to protect my investment. I don't LIKE it, but $%^&*, it's only money!!! :)

[784caroline]

At closing, I requested and received a notarized "Contractors Sworn Statements to Owner and Final Release of Lien. This document identifies in one spot 28 contractors who worked on my house specifically by trade...all have signed off so I think I have less of a problem with a mechanics lien against a newly constructed house.

This is a valuable document to have.

[Avista]

Once we bought a parcel of land on which we wanted to build our house. As we were beginning to build a mechanics lean was found. Apparently, the previous owner of the land had not paid off his lean. This was eventually cleaned up, but I think Title Insurance is a good investment.

[dadspet]

I opted not to get title insurance! My reasoning was: The villages closing dept told me there has never been a title issue in the villages, There is a statement in the contract you sign when purchasing your house from the villages that the house is sold to you free and clear of any issues to the title. Land was mainly horse farms before and there was minimal turnaround. When you sell your house you have to get Title insurance for the buyer again. I was also told that 85% of buyers get title insurance and 15% don't. So > If someday you see my in one of the town squares or on Morris Blvd with a sign asking for work (or $7 for the golf cart path fee) you will know I was wrong (and it won't be the first time) - please be kind and help me out!

[LG]

Title Insurance in Florida is a seller expense ( of course everything is negotiable ). But if you but a new home cash, I would not pay for it. If there are problems..you'll have 60-100000 folks supporting the law suit.

:agree:

[784caroline]

I did not buy it....the land was never titled before and I received a notarized document from the VIllages with all mechinics liens cleared. NO need to donate $1700 to someone when historically such insurance has rarely been paid out.

BTW I also play craps on a cruise ship!

[duffer4384]

I hope I can get some advice on here about title insurance. In Ohio, it is not common for a property owner to need title insurance, so very few people get it. I just recieved closing information from the Villages closing dept. for our new home in The Villages. This information recomends that we obtain title insurance (not cheap) I kind of figured that The Villages did research when they bought the land and that it should be pretty safe to assume that no one else is going to lay claim to it, not even the native Americans. Does anyone have an opinion one way or another about title insurance that might help me here?
:dontknow:

[Duffer]

I don't know if it is mandatory to have TI in Florida but I hope you realize how the word "assume" can bite you. As far a Native Americans claiming tiltle to your property, Currently there are cases going on in NM and with former slaves and early minority settlers in SC. You probably won't have a problem but you should consider the impact if you do before you make a final decision

[nanci2539]

Get the title insurance. I owned a home in Mass that I sold after living there for 25 years. My home was built on someone else's land. It was a mess. The owner died; the widow threatened to tear my house down because it was on her land and we ended up selling it to the original builder for $80K. And it was worth five times that amount.
It was a five year court battle that was not in my favor. The only saving grace is I had title insurance and the insurance company paid me the policy but it didn't take care of the problem. The home was still built on another person's land. It became quite nasty.

All the insurance does is compensate you for damages if something like this happens. Yes, they should have done a proper survey of the land before they gave me the insurance but they didn't. Back then, land was sold over coffee and paperwork was on the back of a matchstick cover.

So, you never know, just like I didn't know!

[duffer4384]

Hey, Thanks to both of you for the advice and Duffer, nice handle. I had to go to 4384 to be able to use it, how's it feel to be number one? Thanks again.

[Muncle]

On resales, I think the advantages are obvious. On new construction, there is always the off chance of a mechanics lien. Theoretically, title insurance guards against that.

[ohiogolf]

We bought in Hadley in February. I called my lawyer in Ohio who is also licensed to practice in Florida and who is a personal estate lawyer and asked him if the title insurance was a wise buy. he told me to absolutely buy it. that was all I needed to hear.

[duffer4384]

Thanks for the help, I have decided, (with your help) to go ahead with the title insurance for the peace of mind. Nice to hear there is another Ohio golfer in Hadley. My handle explains my ability on the links, but I love the game. Thanks again all, see you in june.

[Boomer]

I hope I can get some advice on here about title insurance. In Ohio, it is not common for a property owner to need title insurance, so very few people get it. I just recieved closing information from the Villages closing dept. for our new home in The Villages. This information recomends that we obtain title insurance (not cheap) I kind of figured that The Villages did research when they bought the land and that it should be pretty safe to assume that no one else is going to lay claim to it, not even the native Americans. Does anyone have an opinion one way or another about title insurance that might help me here?
:dontknow:


Hello Fellow Buckeye,

I, too, remember the days when many of us here in Ohio did not buy title insurance. In fact, they always used to say, "If it's a clean, don't worry about title insurance. If it's a dirty, buy it." -meaning if you were buying from someone who was in a nasty divorce or family feud or whatever, you needed to get it. That sure could have turned out to be bad advice in a lot of cases. But it was common practice in some areas.

But those days are gone forever. -- even here in the part of Ohio where buyers still sometimes let sellers stay in the home 30 days after closing.

These days, I would not ever consider buying a house without title insurance - not here - not there - not anywhere. Our policy for our house we downsized to a little while back, here in Ohio, lives quietly in our safe deposit box.

The cost is minimal compared to what could happen without it.

It's the cost of sleep.

I am glad you found your answer. And enjoy your new life in TV. I think there must be Buckeyes all over that place.

Boomer

[jjdees]

I'm surprised about the comments about the lack of need for title insurance in Ohio. We owned 4 different houses in the Cleveland suburbs going back to 1964 and had title insurance on all of them. Initially it was strongly pushed by our Realtors and later when we were older and wiser, no one had to reccomend it, it was an automatic part of our closing process. Since then, in multiple states, we always bought title insurance. Wouldn't be without it.

[Boomer]

I'm surprised about the comments about the lack of need for title insurance in Ohio. We owned 4 different houses in the Cleveland suburbs going back to 1964 and had title insurance on all of them. Initially it was strongly pushed by our Realtors and later when we were older and wiser, no one had to reccomend it, it was an automatic part of our closing process. Since then, in multiple states, we always bought title insurance. Wouldn't be without it.


Hi jjdees,

I think it was something that happened mostly in farming communities and in small towns where people had known each other for generations. Sometimes business in such places was done with just a handshake.

Things were just done differently in some places throughout the state, especially lots of years ago. But certainly no more.

You know what. Now that I think about it. In the small town where I grew up, there were a few houses that had been moved. Really. I saw a couple of them going down the street when I was really, really young. Maybe this explains why.

Boomer

[jjdees]

Boomer, That makes sense. You wouldn't have the subdividing of properties and numerous changes in ownership that you'd have in the cities. I hadn't thought about that.

[duffer4384]

Hello folks, I would like to expand a little bit on the need for title insurance in Ohio. We recently sold our home here in Ohio in order to buy in TV. The couple that purchased our home paid cash and were represented by a realtor. We sold the house ouselves (no Realtor) and were represented by our lawyer. The closing took place in the offices of a local title company. At closing the title agent stated for all to hear that he was obligated to offer title insurance, but since there was no mortgage , it wouldn't be required. Apparently if there was a mortgage, banks require title insurance to protect their interest. He also stated that even though he is obligated to offer title insurance, that no one takes it if they don't have to. This couple didn't take it. Therein lies the cause of our delima. If we were mortgaging our new home, we wouldn't have had an option, but since we were able to make a cash deal, this decision fell upon us to make. I called The Villages closing department for clarification on this and was told that about 80% of the buyers in The Villages get the title insurance. My delema was why didn't the other 20% take it? I have been reading this forum for awhile and felt it would be a good source for an unbiased opinion, so I broached the subject here and got some very good replies that helped me and maybe that will help someone else deal with this. Thanks to all :bigthumbsup:

[bestmickey]

Curious....how much does title insurance cost?

[Sidney Lanier]

It's the cost of sleep.



I couldn't think of a better way to put it; after all, that's what insurance is supposed to be about. As another poster in the thread mentioned, with a resale situation it's a no-brainer as the seller pays the entire cost of title search/title insurance (another advantage to resales versus new construction), but with new construction, for peace of mind it's the way to go. IMHO....

[hdken]

My delema was why didn't the other 20% take it?


My guess is that the 20% who don't obtain title insurance are the same 20% who think that attorneys are a waste of money.

To each his own, but as a practicing attorney, not in the real estate field, I wouldn't think of purchasing real estate without title insurance and competent counsel.

[Boomer]

...At closing the title agent stated for all to hear that he was obligated to offer title insurance, but since there was no mortgage , it wouldn't be required. Apparently if there was a mortgage, banks require title insurance to protect their interest. He also stated that even though he is obligated to offer title insurance, that no one takes it if they don't have to...


Hi duffer4384,

Here I am, back in this thread again. I am the Buckeye from the south side of the state. And I know all about Lawyers and FSBO's and Cash. -- Oh My!

Please look up there at the quote where it says that banks require title insurance to protect their interest.

While it can be quite a wonderful thing to be a cash buyer, never, never forget that when you are one, YOU ARE THE BANK. (Oh, and this all caps doesn't mean I'm yelling or anything. I just wanted to say it in big letters.)

Boomer

[interested]

In our state, title insurance is required. Apparently in Florida it is not. Did you get it - if so why or why not?

[katezbox]

yes - i thought it unnecessary, but we got is so my husband would have peace of mind.

[SteveFromNY]

I also got it. Although I have a mortgage and I think the bank required it.
It would be well worth searching on this topic as there were a couple of threads with some really interesting stuff, including an entry about someone who lost their house and got nothing for it as a result of not having the insurance.
The odds are slim that anything will happen, but for the amount it costs it seemed silly not to get it.

[suebanj]

I worked for a title company here and I would definitely suggest it if you are buying a re-sale...I've seen numerous problems especially if there was a death of one of the owners and also if an extension was built on a home and it is over the property line or in an easement....We bought a new home here and still got the title insurance...I guess it's what you feel comfortable with.

[Boomer]

Hi interested,

We have not bought in TV yet, but I have been on this board for a while and I have seen some good discussions of title insurance. People do not agree on what to do.

You will not get a definitive answer I do not think, but you will be able to see different opinions.

When we first looked at TV for a second home, I had questions about title insurance. I would want it. Something that came up in the discussion while we were in TV was that the policy is paid for by the seller. I kept thinking I was not understanding that right. I still think I must be missing something. We paid for the title policy here on our Ohio house. That made sense to me because I saw the policy as a contract.

Just like getting clear title anywhere, I wondered about homes that could be a part of estates that maybe had not been properly settled or homes that were highly leveraged across the country by investors. And there is always the possibility of liens for work done but not paid for, and some other things, too.

At this point, we have not bought anything in TV so even though I say that I would buy it, I have not even bought the house yet.

Something that comes up in the discussion of title insurance is the idea that some people feel comfortable without it if they pay cash for the house. I have heard people say that cash buyers do not need to worry because it is just that the bank requires title insurance. When I hear that, I think, "Hellooooo, Cash Buyer, you are the bank in this one." I know that maybe the bank could have an interest in selling the actual policy. Don't really know about that. I just assume it is only that bank wants their interest in the property covered so why wouldn't I want the same thing? But that's just me. We all have our individual perspective on the odds.

I test big financial decisions with how well they let me sleep at night. To me, title insurance cost is the cost of sleep. But there are many well-informed, smart people on this board who did not buy title insurance and they have their own reasons. And heck, I haven't bought anything there yet. So what do I know? You need to hear from those who are in TV already.

Anyway, at risk of looking like I think I am some kind of retired librarian, when I saw your question I gathered up some old threads here for you to read if you want to. They are pretty old threads so I hope somebody will come along here and talk more about what they think about title insurance.

I hope these links are a start.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12790

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8873

If you would like to search for additional threads on the topic, you can click on 'search' on the line above. You can ask it for thread searches or post searches. You might also want to try typing in 'closing costs' in the box and that could bring you more information to go through.

And I bet others will come in here with new posts for you on the topic, too.

Good luck with your decision.

Boomer

[JohnN]

we bought new, no mortgage and chose NOT to get title insurance.
many opinions, whatever helps you sleep at night

[Boomer]

bump

Tony,

I do not know why I never think about just bumping the old threads. I always go back and link them into the new thread. Your way was just waaaaay tooooo easy for an English major I guess.

Boomer

[tony]

Notice that I did not mention a word about English majors. Notice that.

And thanks for the link so I could find them easier. My kinda major would never be able to find them.

[interested]

I appreciate the responses and especially to Boomer for the help with the search. When I did a search I only got the recent comments from the lawyer thread. Thank you to all.

[Boomer]

Notice that I did not mention a word about English majors. Notice that.

And thanks for the link so I could find them easier. My kinda major would never be able to find them.

But Mr. Tony, Mr. Admin, Sir, now we have 3 different threads titled "Title Insurance" all marching down the page in random order. Do you realize what that could do to any librarian who just might be in the house? The poor thing would want to try to get them all collected under the same Dewey number where people could find the information easily. But she would only be able to stare helplessly at the torment. (Sigh)

Boomer

[tony]

I was strong-armed into combining all the Title Insurance threads into one thread.


:rolleyes:

So sorry I cannot find the Dewey Decimal number for Real Estate transfer insurance.

[Boomer]

I was strong-armed into combining all the Title Insurance threads into one thread.


:rolleyes:

So sorry I cannot find the Dewey Decimal number for Real Estate transfer insurance.


And what a lovely Dewey Decimal number it is: 333.33

Boomer :2excited:

[tony]

And I just bet you don't know the Accession Number.

Now, back to Title Insurance.

[Boomer]

And I just bet you don't know the Accession Number.

Now, back to Title Insurance.

You will find that information under Entitled Insurance.

Now, back to Title Insurance.

Boomer

[784caroline]

YOu are saying your lawyers and real estate agents are recommending title insurance..now these are really impartial people to ask...especially the ones involved in the real estate deal who are more likely than not getting a kickback on your title insurance proceeds. Also they are not putting up the money and COvering their butts in the mean time.......not really impartial advice!!

When we bought our previous home(s) years ago, yes we bought title insurance and the seller was not picking up the tab. WE just believe the Villages property (NEW) is sold with enough protection with the "mechanics lien waiver" and the sales contract provision. The land where your home sits (new property) was pasture land and did not have alot of turnover in recent years.

It all comes down to a Personal comfort level and people should not say someone is right or wrong in making a decision to buy or not buy Title Insurance. You provide the facts, and a decision is made. Just because you decided the opposite of another person especially on the issue of Title Insurance does not make a decison right OR wrong.

Insurance rates are all based on historical trends and RISK...and If you research Title Insurance I think you will find it is one of the least paid out insurance claims in the industry. Now you have some facts......will you sleep at night or not depending if you buy or not is the question... knowing something always "could" happen but it is VERY,VERY unlikely. Buying Title Insurance simply because you were told 80% of homeowners do is not really a valid reason for buying such insurance.