Preliminary Title Report - What Should an Agent Review?

Great post!  I recently closed a sale where the title report revealed that the parcel number for the condo being sold had been switched with the unit above it since construction in 1988.  It took 6 months time and a court date to fix it, but reading the legal description in the title report led to saving my client from problems in the future.

Good post.  I like the video.

Holland Michigan Real Estate | West Michigan Foreclosures

Thanks, Bill, for posting this.  I will probably make this a separate post, but I want to comment on your post as well.  I am especially interested in you feedback on my experience outlined below.

A couple of months ago I repersented a buyer as he tried to buy a nice residential lot of 6+ acres. It was my listing before the owner lost it to the Bank of America in foreclosure.  The negotiation was difficult because the bank would not meet any of the deadlines during the offer/counteroffer process. They did not respond in writing during the process.

As most of you are aware, the banks make their own addendum with lots of fine print basically saying the the Buyer may get a clear title.Of course the bank also specified the use of their own escrow and title company.

We did finally get this offer to escrow. When the preliminary title report came, it showed the same disclaimers that were on the bank addendum, thereby eliminating any real protection that would normally be provided by title insurance.

My major concern in this process is that the escrow company is supposed to be an independent third party, not an orgainization that "is in bed with the bank."  My feeling is that there was NO POSSIBILITY that the escrow company was acting independently of the bank. I am sure that this process of making the Schedule Bs has been set up on a broad scale between this title company and the bank.

Eventually, escrow fell out as the bank would not give my Buyer the time to finish his due diligence.

I have decided to tell this story to warn any buyer who may want to purchase a foreclosure from this bank or use this title company in the future. I was involved in representing another buyer in a short sale with the same bank. That contract took five months to close.