What Exactly Is a Title Search When Buying a Home?
Posted on: 15 December 2016
Buying a home is not something that happens overnight. In fact, it normally takes weeks or months for the process to completely go through, and this is because there are many steps that need to be completed. One step is something called a title search. If you have never purchased a home and are not sure what this is, here are a few things you should know.
What is a title search?
A title search is something that is used to find out who has rights to the title of a property. If there is a loan against the house, the lender that offered the loan has rights to the title of the house. If there are liens against the home, the people that placed the liens on the house have rights to its title. These are all things that can be discovered through a title search.
For a title search to occur, a lawyer or title company will look through public records to find out every detail they can about the title of the house you are buying. This search helps them find out who owns the house and who has rights to it.
Why is it so important?
Getting a title search is necessary to make sure that the person selling the house actually has the right to sell it to you. Without a title search, you may end up buying a house that does not belong to the person who sold it to you. You may also end up buying a house that has liens on it that you did not know about. The purpose of a title search is so that you can make sure you know exactly what you are getting yourself into when buying a house. It is designed for buyer protection, and it is not something you should skip.
Is it always needed?
You can get by without performing a title search if you are paying cash for the house. When you pay cash for a house, you will not be working with a lender, and the lender is the person who typically requires the title search. Anytime a person pays cash for a house, they can bypass many of the normal requirements; however, it is still a good idea to pay for a title search even if you are not borrowing money to buy the house.
As you begin the process of buying a house, you may want to hire a real estate attorney for help. Your attorney can handle the title search for you and can complete many of the other necessary steps required when purchasing a house.
Share