Ken Brand recently wrote a post about who has the right to choose the title company. It got me thinking. The rationale I usually hear is that since the seller customarily pays for the title policy, they get to decide. Presumably, sellers are familiar with all the title companies in town and will select their favorite. Or they will pick the one that is closest to where they live.

I've been recommending the same title company team for the last five years whenever I take a listing. I always request them when I submit a buyer's offer, too. Why? Well, they invite me to their Thanksgiving parties every year. They give me bottled water at closings, and there are always free cookies in the lobby. They send me thank-you cards. And once they even took me to lunch!

"All seriousness aside"...

After countless e-mails that were replied to on weekends or holidays; cellphone calls returned after 5:00; patient answers to all my questions; tricky title issues successfully resolved; horrible agents and their clients neutralized at closing; I think this title company has earned my business for life. I have absolute confidence in recommending them to clients and other parties to the transaction, because they do a Great Job. That should be the only reason anybody should work with a particular title company.

If my seller really does want to work with a different title company, naturally, that's their choice. But I reserve the right to tell them "I told you so" if anything goes wrong.

In case you're wondering, it's the Janysek team at First American Title, located in the SABOR building on IH-10.