another insurance question
 

When buying a new home do you have to buy title insurance? I know someone who bought a patio home in TV and he said he did not buy the insurance. What are your thought? Thanks

You are not required to purchase title insurance but its a 1 time fee and from what I've heard, its just having the peace of mind knowing that the title of your home is protected. And in this day and age, for me, it was well worth it.

It is not required, but only about $7-1,000 with all the other costs it's not much for the assurance.

But the bank may take their own and add in at closing anyway.

2 kinds of title insurance
 

If you have a mortgage, the bank will normally require you to buy a lender's title insurance policy, which only protects them - the lender, from defects in the title. Optionally, whether you have a mortgage or not, you can elect to purchase an owner's title insurance policy, which protects you, the owner.

Ditto. :agree: From my 40 years experience as a real estate broker.

No requirement to buy owners policy, however, IMHO it is a mistake not to purchase Owner coverage. This is a one time life of ownership coverage. The insurance company will not only insure against defects in title, but will also pay for the legal costa of defending against bogus claims. There are some stange claims like the Indian tribes who have claimed land in Conn. and other states and issues of Federal or State ownership at shorelines. Transfer of lands by persons later to be determined to be incompetent at the time of transfer preceding your ownership could be an issue as could be fraud issues in an earlier transaction.

Couple points

Out of 40,000 plus homes already built here in TV, has anyone heard of or know if a title claim has been made?? I dont think there have been any that I am aware of. This would be typical of title insurance claims for most of america.....the claim rate is "extremely" low and given the the developer of TV appears to be on top of things..I think that would continue to be true even moreso here. For my designer in 2006, an owners policy would have cost Approx $1300..one time cost.

The bank if you have a mortgage will only require you to get title insurance for the amount of the mortgage, so if you are inclined to get this type of insurance for you the owner, make certain it would be for the value of the property.

Like any insurance, you are thrilled you have it if/when you need it. The cost to defend your rights to your property can be HUGE if you ever have to go through that process. Title insurance covers the cost including attorney's fees. And, yes, I do know someone who did have title problems, so it does happen.

[QUOTE=villager;497259]Like any insurance, you are thrilled you have it if/when you need it. The cost to defend your rights to your property can be HUGE if you ever have to go through that process. Title insurance covers the cost including attorney's fees. And, yes, I do know someone who did have title problems, so it does happen.[/QU

Was the problem with a home in TVs

No tommy, it was not in TV, however, it could just have easily been here as title issues happen all over! I do get frustrated when people think TV is the "perfect" place and nothing will ever happen here because 1 - it's The Villages, 2- they've been building here for a long time, 3- it's new construction, etc. All these comments have no bearing on whether title insurance is needed or not. You do get clear title up to the day you close on your home, however, if something happens the next day and you have to defend your ownership interest, it gets VERY expensive. And, no you can't sue The Villages. Well, you could, but you would lose. OK, I'm off my soapbox. Sorry I got carried away. I've worked in the industry for over 30 years, so I guess I'm passionate about it.

We didn't. We bought a new home and paid for it and felt that a company that does so many things right over time would have clear title to the land that they built on. AND we assuredly would have heard about it on here if they didn't.

It is the first time that we did NOT have title insurance on 7 new and two resale homes over our lifetime.

Many others who have also bought title insurance in the past, have not done so here. I would absolutely do it on a resale.

It is YOUR call and your call only. We are very conservative about things like this and that is the choice we made.

Ditto. :agree: :laugh:

We got title insurance on our TV home (resale) when we purchased the property. The previous owners paid for it as part of the closing agreement.

Bill :)

Owner's policy
 

This is a good place to reiterate (thanks for the lead-in, Bill) that the policy needs to be an OWNER'S policy (additional) not just a mortgagee policy that is usually standard (of course, assuming there is a mortgage). :)

I am sticking with the peace of mind responses. The price is not that much after all of the other add-ons you pay for. Why risk it?