Real estate transactions can be tricky to navigate, especially if you have never been involved in such transactions. To make things easier, you should always hire a title company for any real estate transactions. Title companies play several important roles in these transactions. Perhaps their most important role is being the agent of all parties involved including the buyer, the seller, the insurance companies, or any other parties involved in the transaction. Because of how important they are and the roles they play, it is likely that something could go wrong in real estate transactions if they are not involved in real estate transactions.

The Title Might Not Be Legitimate

A title company is tasked with ensuring that the title to the property under sale is legitimate. This gives the buyer the confidence that once they have custody of the property, they will be the rightful owner and no one else will claim that property in the future. To guarantee the validity of the title, the title company will usually do a title search.

The title search normally involves examining the property records to ensure the seller owns the property legally. This shields the buyer from claims of full or partial ownership of the property in the future.

You Might Be Left with a Lot of Baggage

When doing the title search, the title company also looks for:

?Outstanding mortgages?Unpaid property taxes?Restrictions?Leases?Liens ?Judgments

If you take custody of a property that has not been checked for all these issues, they will become your responsibility.

You Might Not End Up with the Right Property

A title company will not go forward with any transactions unless they have performed a survey of the property under sale. Title companies like Bay Title company will check the boundaries of the property and ensure that it sits within those boundaries. They will also check whether the neighbors are encroaching on the property and if there are any easements that may affect an ownership claim.

When they are done with all this, the title company will prepare a short report on what their survey revealed and present it to the buyer.

You Might Not Get the Payment

A title company acts as an escrow agent on all real estate transactions they are party to. They hold all documents and money according to the instructions of both the seller and the buyer. In many cases, the buyer hands the title company the money needed to pay the purchase price and the seller hands over the documents.

Once everything is checked and is in order, the title company releases the documents as well as the money. If a buyer does not use an escrow system and signs documents that show they transferred the property before receiving their money, the buyer may decide not to as they already have ownership of the property.

To protect yourself, regardless of whether you are a buyer or seller, you should always hire a title company when doing any real estate transactions. The title company will ensure everything goes smoothly and that the seller gets their money and the buyer the property's documents.