I’m sitting here at my computer working today. It’s been a long week, and going into the records room is the last thing I want to do. Unfortunately, that’s where I’ll end up this afternoon, but at least for now I have choices.
I’ve long said that the online records benefit me and my business. I love that I have the choice and convenience to work at home or in my office. However, I’m reading the index and pulling up each document necessary to do a thorough search, and it dawns on me that these automated title companies promise quick turnaround searches in as little as 15 minutes. The owner’s of these companies obviously have no clue of what’s involved in the title search process.
I’ve been sitting here an hour and have had to look at twelve documents, cross-referenced with twelve more documents that I had to note on my printed index so I don’t duplicate myself. Even if the tax map numbers were indexed, I’d still have to look because my project today involves an estate with contracts of sale, recorded and unrecorded, with overlapping properties and derivations. I have 476 entries just on my printed index from the end of 1986 to current. I’ve had to enter my name 21 different ways to pull up all entries, and I still will go back and enter the last name differently to check for mis-spellings. I realize that today I have a search that is more difficult than usual, but, even on a good day a 15 minute search is ludicrous.
To tell end-users that automation shortens and cheapens the process is such a disservice to the title industry. Documents need to be reviewed by the human eye, and that means read. Reading takes time. Automation can look for keywords, but in a real estate transaction not all keywords are evident. Even using tax map numbers as keyword indicators is misleading because tax map numbers change as parcels are divided. My particular search today is 12 acres out of 101 acres. The tax map number on some deeds is noted as a p/o xxx-xx-xx-001 while on my source deed it is noted as xxx-xx-xx-024. Will automation pick that up? And what about the conveyances from the tract that were assigned new tax map numbers? How will automation provide me with easements appurtenant or restrictions that may be implied on those deeds?
The real estate transaction is often the most important investment a person makes in their lifetime. The sub prime debacle has once again put a spotlight on the significance the investment is to our economy. The constant push to “Walmartize” every single transaction is just not sensible. When consumers purchase a home, shortcuts are not practical or prudent. Like it or not, quicker and cheaper affects quality and thoroughness.
When I buy property, there’s a reason I perform my own title search before I even make an offer; I want to know what the problems are and what it’ll take to fix them. Then the attorney orders another search, and I pay for that. I get my own home inspector, the one the real estate agents hate. I want to know what’s wrong with the property so I can make a decision to fix it, live with it, or pass. I pay extra for that service. I order my own appraisal when I buy or sell, and I want to know what it’s really worth. Not an inflated or deflated figure to make the number.
But something good can always be found when troubles are afoot. The silver lining here is that the troubles now upon us will force lenders, underwriters, buyers and sellers, and yes, our legislators to finally open their eyes. The processes involved in the real estate transaction cannot and should not be rushed and cheapened. As a matter of fact, cleaning up this mess is going to take a lot of time and cost a small fortune. Sorry taxpayers…we tried to warn you.
