Comment

Comment by Kari A. Battaglia on April 5, 2011 at 3:30am

Valerie - I count on the title company I work with the return preliminary HUD1 to me in a timely manner (typically my short sales require updated HUD1 3 - 5 times), have preliminary title search's completed to make sure that I am dealing with all lien holders on record and other title issues must be cleared up before closing. I have used buyer's title company before only to not have HUD1 sent to me days after requesting them, preliminary title search are not done unless I pay for them in advance and title issues were discovered too late to close in time.  Example: loan was in name of Mr. & Mrs. Seller, deed was in the name of Mr. Seller Trust and Mr. Seller now has Alzheimer's and we now need to get resignation of trustee and successor trustee acceptance on the county records before closing.  This was discovered early enough by the title company I work with where it did not become an issue when it came time to close. Working with Buyer's company a similar situation came up but was discovered day of closing and we could not close by approval deadline and I had to resubmit and we closed 2 months later.  I am not going through that again.

Comment by Thom Colby CA Brkr 888-391-5245 on April 5, 2011 at 3:29am

Title and Escrow (and other services) are "negotiabe items" between Buyer and Seller.

Yes, as Brokers and Agents we provide direction and advice on who's great and who's not so great - but ultimately it's the Buyer and the Seller's decision.  Here's how I handle it.  If I represent a Buyer, I write into the Purchase Agreement "Escrow and Title to be Independent of any RE Brokerage Affiliation or Ownership".  That way it's placed on Neutral ground to be negotiated.  MANY Brokers here in California own Escrow and Title companies, and in my experience, it has never worked out for anyone's benefit (except the Broker who owns them). 

 

Example; last year a represented a Buyer on a Short Sale (surprise), Since the Listing Broker would not negotiate, and my Buyer really wanted this house, we accepted the Broker Owned Escrow and Title (expected mistake).  Long story short, the non-recorded 2nd would not release (Chase Recovery).  The Broker-owned Escrow and Title attempted to close the transaction even though they knew there was an unrecorded 2nd (typical in new construction in the early 2000's).  It wasn't until we got our attorney involved that it got stopped while waiting in line to record the transaction at the County Recorder.  It took 2 additional months to get it done, but the Buyer got clean title. 

The moral is, be careful when using ANY Broker-Affiliated Businesses - it becomes all about the money and not about the clients.

 

Thom Colby

Broker

Newport Beach CA

Comment by Jeff Payne on April 5, 2011 at 3:29am

Valerie, unless you have a seasoned buyer who has bought alot of properties, they don't know the difference in title companies so how would they know they can trust the one that they choose?  The title company that I "force" the buyers to use knows the intimate details of a short sale and are a part of the team that makes sure the short sale gets approved so in reality they are the best ally for the buyer and seller alike.  If the deal is being financed, the buyers lender is going to make sure that there are no title issues once the title company produces the title committment.

My thought on this is that the buyers agent is most likely putting the thought into the buyers head on which title company to "trust" because the buyer is probably not well versed in title anyway.

Comment by Jeff Payne on April 5, 2011 at 3:25am

Ben, in our area our sellers pay for title and choose title company, if it were buyer chooses, I would simply just advise seller to counter offer that the seller will choose title company.   I like Kari's last sentence.

Comment by Kari A. Battaglia on April 5, 2011 at 3:09am

Every once in a while I have a buyer who wants me to use their title company (usually associated with buyers brokerage, etc.). I specifically state in the Realtor only comments that Seller select and pays for title. I make sure that it is in the contract as well as I do not want to have to deal with this issue after my title company has prepared several preliminary HUD1 for the short sale. I one time had to negotiate this with the buyers lender as they were insisting that we use their title company but I did not waiver. My title company is part of my "Short Sale Team." I tell the buyers agent if they cannot accept this then this is not the house for their buyers.

Comment by Michael Schneider on April 5, 2011 at 2:29am

Valerie/Jennifer,

BofA told me the the "customer input" via the "wrong link" website was no longer necessary.  In fact, they encouraged me to wait until after the netotiator reviewed the material, then upload via the Library.  So, the statements/paystubs would not need to be updated.

The login with the customer calling and password was pretty pointless.

Loading directly into the Library is easier IMHO.

Comment by Maya Thomas on April 5, 2011 at 1:29am

@ Celeste, offer to pay for the the buyers title policy and closing costs on the condition that you can select the title company.

Comment by Ben Benita on April 5, 2011 at 12:27am

If ANYONE has a good answer to Celeste's question, PLEASE let me know!!!

 

I am partnered with Justice Title and we have had NUMEROUS short sale issues with clueless title companies "too busy" to do closings (yes, my last closing the BUyers title company was "too busy" they said and I had to spend about 3 additional hours on teh phone getting approval extensions.

 

Some brokers have "ABA" affilaited business agreemetns with title companies (they get "legal kickbacks") for closing with certain title companies....VERY hard issue to overcome.

 

As always, do you best to negotiate, we offer to match ANYONE's fees, and, offer to certain admin charges some brokers charge their agents for closing elsewhere.....dirty game, but, one that must be played.

 

Love to hear anyone else's tips!!!!

[email protected]

Comment by Valerie Pressley on April 4, 2011 at 9:50pm

In New Jersey, the buyer has a right to choose their own title company.  They are paying for their side of the title, so it is important for them to have someone THEY trust and who is working for their benefit to make sure their title insurance covers any possible issues that come up.  The seller's title company, who is your ally, is only doing the seller's side of the tile (which is all the bank cares about for an estimated HUD-1).  Why do you need to force the buyer to use your title company?  Their title company will fill in the numbers you need for the final HUD-1 and you can submit it to the bank after settlement.

Comment by Celeste ODea on April 4, 2011 at 7:27pm

Here's a question - As the listing agent on a short sale, you have developed a long relationship and rapport with a title company who is expert in working with you on short sales, preparing pre-titles, and spending many hours in preparing the multitude of HUD-1s that are required.  In MD, the buyer has the right to select the title company; however, on a few occasions I get a selling agent who refuses to use the title company that the "seller" selects. They don't seem to understand how important it is to have the title company as your team player because the banks are negotiating the Seller's side of the HUD-1 anyway, and have nothing to do with the Buyer's side.  Just wondered if anyone had a good script to convince the selling agent to work with your title company.

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