It seems that a lot of the Title Company Reps are not “investor friendly”.
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What is it about assignments and double closings that scares them off?
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Are there other reasons that Title Companies shy away from investors?
I think its because they are uneducated, jealous or just really dont want others to make money. There really is no good reason
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Keep looking, you will find some title companies that work with investors. Call other investors, or go to your local REI club. There are investors in every city, and they have to close somewhere. Call every title company you can, or do the above, until you find one.
I think that they just don’t understand what we are doing. Like when I closed on my last house 2 weeks ago. My wife came with me and the escrow officer at the title company just couldn’t get her head around the fact that my wife was not signing off on any of the documents. She must have thought that my wife was like one of those beat down wives that can’t assert her rights. My wife kept assuring her it was ok. That I was not buying a house, I was buying an investment. She had to go out and ask one of the other escrow officers if it was ok…she had no clue.
Try doing it where your wife is on the deed but not the mortgage…that’s a real hoot! Talk about freaking a closing agent out!
Keith
There’s a title co. near me that is owned and run by an attorney who is also an investor. That’s probably the best kind to find, if you can!
How about all you veteran investors out there.
What has your experience been with Title Reps?
How many did you have to contact before you found one that was willing to work with you?
I’ve must have called about a dozen of so title Companies before -The right one came into view. As far as My thinking goes, Alot of Title companies just dont have enough knowledge -especially when it comes to creative re investing—Most are probably scared off because the media and they’re portrayal of investors.
I currently work as a Title Rep and I can say from experience…ITS NOT OUR FAULT!!
We’re given guidelines to proceed by and have to base our decisions accordingly. For example : I work for [a very VERY large & common lender] and we were just told to OMIT prior owner mortgages from title commitments if there is ANY INSTITUTIONAL LENDER MORTGAGE FOR OUR BORROWER.
Translation: prior owner has open mortgage for $1 million. Current borrower is refinancing a 3k mortgage with [fill in your bank]. WE DO NOT SHOW THE $1MILLION MORTGAGE. Prior owner has a foreclosure pending related to the $1 MILL Mortgage and we don’t show that either because of the $3k mortgage.
This drove everyone (Title Reps) crazy and freaked us all out, but being that we need the paycheck we abide by their rules.
Just keep in mind next time that your title rep is doing their job and not “acting stupid” on purpose. We’re told to act “incompetant” and as much as it SUCKS, for most people (such as myself) the paycheck is needed more then pointing out what wrong. Due dilligence as an investor is the only thing that can superceed this as you need to know what to ask for and why to ask it. I DEFINETLY URGE THIS FOR ALL INVESTORS as lenders and title companies don’t want any complications as they feel it can create possible liabilities for their situation. I hope this helped a bit.
The best way to get in with title reps is to contact a realtor who does alot of business and ask for a referral over to a title company, realtors are the title reps bread and butter, so if you mention that mr.smith (who closes 20 deals a month) at their title company refered you over you will definately have their attention, because they will probably figure that if they do bad you will report back to mr.smith and they will lose his business.
I am a realtor, and a investor so I get to see things from all sides, the title company I am with now waives all my closing fees, saving me $175 per transaction. So on a flip I save when buying then when I sell. Getting a title company on your side also helps when you need favors to rush closings.
Eric Medemar
p.s. Also if you are a busy investor get hooked up with their full service dept and they can handle just about everything for you, while giving you more time to find houses.