Real Estate transactions aren’t totally different from any other retail or service transactions, but the stakes are typically a lot higher, as is the sales price, and the amount of documentation that must be prepared and filed. But your mother didn’t raise a fool, and you shouldn’t discount your instincts when looking for a title insurance agent or shopping for a title insurance policy. When it comes to closing services, title searches, and land title insurance, you owe it to yourself to leave no stone unturned when looking for a provider.
Real estate purchases are complex transactions. In fact, for most people, buying or selling a home will be the single most complicated financial transaction they will ever have to deal with. Even real estate professionals occasionally get tripped up by all of the documentation requirements, deadlines, inspections, searches, and assorted other details that must be taken care of for a successful settlement closing. A huge (and often costly) mistake is the one made by a prospective seller or buyer who decides to “save a few bucks” and select a title company based upon price, and price alone. There are many title companies doing business in the State of Arkansas, but only one has independent ownership of a bank or a real estate agency with 17 locations throughout the State of Arkansas, and having been in business for over 30 years. Sure, price is important, but another huge factor, when it comes to such a large asset and important purchase should be QUALITY.
Whether you’re purchasing a small cottage or a large mansion, the steps that you have to perform to prepare for closing are the same. It starts with an accepted offer, and ends with the purchaser being handed the keys, and involves a large amount of coordination and documentation in between. One of the most important parts of the transaction is the title research. The key to a smooth transaction depends on how clean that the title is, or more specifically, how clean that each previous transfer of ownership was when the property changed hands.