About Eric Sexton Expertise All aspects of buying and selling homes including: General real estate questions, Contracts, Negotiations, surveys, title work and general questions about mortgages. I CAN NOT GIVE LEGAL ADVICE AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS WHERE LEGAL ADVICE IS NECESSARY.
Experience
I have been a real estate agent for 6 years and a broker for 2 years.
Organizations National Association of REALTORS and Texas Association of REALTORS.
Expert: Eric Sexton Date: 9/11/2007 Subject: Title Search
Question Besides utilizing a title company, how can I learn to do a title search? Are there resources available to a consumer to conduct his own title search on a property without having to pay a title company to do so (e.g. websites that can be subscribed to, etc.)?
Answer John,
I'm going to answer your last question first. To the best of my knowledge there are no online resources available to complete a title search.
Let me explain the title search process. An abstract of title is an historical list of all filed documents and proceedings that affect the title to the property. When a title company does a title search they hire an attorney to prepare and review the abstract and that abstract is used for a particular real estate transaction.
The abstract is researched by an abstract company. The abstract company searches for and records the documents and proceedings I mentioned above.
In order for you to do a full title search you would need to access the necessary legal records (city, county, state and possibly federal) and verify the status of each of these items. You would also have to be aware of state laws (if any) regarding preparing this the information collected.
If you wanted to use the collected information for yourself you could, but you would have no assurance that you had done a complete search. This is why title insurance companies offer insurance. In case a mistake has been made, they will insure their work and cover the loss you might incur.
You don't state your reason for wanting to do your own title work, but I strongly suggest you use a local title company.
