[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]

[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.

[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!

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!

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.