Any Reliable Title Report Online Services?

Question

Hi there,

I'm curious if anyone else have run into my situation where I need reliable title report for auctions but I do not want to bother a title agent. Is there any title report online services that I can subscribe and pay monthly to search for any amount of properties as I wish?

P.S. I'm not looking for something like PropertyShark as their information seems not showing all the liens against the house. In fact, the information that I specifically looking for is any liens that I cannot get rid of when I make the purchase.

Thanks a lot for any suggestion =)

Helen Z

Sean OToole · Answer

Private message me and I can put you in touch with a title company that has a dedicated multi-state group that does this for our customers, including all of the largest trustee sale buyers. They'll ask that you direct your title business to their company in return, but there usually is no cost otherwise.

If you really wanted to do it yourself, and don't want to go sit at the county, the ONLY safe option is to subscribe to the same electronic title plants that the title companies use. There are essentially only two that are used on a widespread basis: PropertyInsight (Fidelity's), and DataTrace (First American's). While it's possible to do so, neither company is really geared to sell to non-title companies. Also some counties have private title plants and will require a buy in (typically $1m+). You'll find this to be fairly expensive, and note any service, other than a title company, that offers to do this for you, has this same expense, thus you simply won't find a reasonable quality, cost effective, solution outside of a title company, or researching directly at the county.

Charles Parrishtrustee sales don't come with free and clear title, and as such the auctioneer can't provide it (with the exception of auction.com, which may offer it).

Rick H. · Answer

@Helen ZhangWhat you are asking for is for someone to perform your due diligence for you.

This is nothing new as every serious trustee sale buyer, for example, needs to determine condition of title and any senior lien positions that would impact their bid and remaining equity.

This important detail is a barrier to entry for many would-be bidders who recognize the risks of bidding blindly. I get a kick out if reading posts from bidders using Daddy's Money, becoming the 'winning bidder' only to post that "...I thought that if I won the bid it I got the property free and clear." No, Billy, you bought a 3rd!

Ward Hanigan still teaches title research out of his San Diego office, using his FITES method.

But you don't want to do any work. Or probably spend no money, either.

You can get about 90% accuracy with an online service such as TitlePro 24/7 but I find that cumbersome and 90% is not accurate when the money goes hard.

So, your best solution is to use a service like PropertyRadar to tag the properties that interest you.  Then, with limited time, check for IRS liens and have your title rep  pull up liens for each property and correlate results.

I do not like auctions because they promote competition! Better deals found by drilling down in specific property situations, although that requires patience.

If merely buying directly from seller, you have more time to perform due diligence and open escrow, etc.

Rick H. · Answer

Take it from me that it is much more effective to search for triggers like foreclosure and defaulted taxes THEN pull probate records when appropriate.

Typically, newer investors get the order of priority of what info to vet and when to vet it, wrong. There's no harm in that but wasted time and energy.

I prefer to work on six (6) high-shot opportunities at a time max.

Sadly, I watch people who even burn out with this few prospects to manage. If you can't handle six, you can't work with hundreds and you'll get 100% of -0- deals.

Truth be hold, title research is a barrier to entry for most would-be trustee bidders. Got a call from one if the big LA County players today and was reminded why I only sell at trustee sales, not buy anymore. It's also a great place to clear title and liquidate products like cracker jacks (a surprise in every box).

Anyway, I'm highly in favor of studying title research. If you do, you'll certainly appreciate the risks of shortcuts and half measures.

Sean OToole · Answer

Account Closed, I just sent you a PM. Best, Sean

Account Closed · Answer

@Sean OToole

I would also like the info for the title company and I cannot private message you w/o being colleagues.

Account Closed · Answer

If you are bidding at auction, you should get a free and clear title. Make sure you ask the auctioneer or trustee if you win the bid, do you get good title.

Charles Parish. Auctioneer

Sean OToole · Answer

@Joshua McGinnisProbate records come from the courts, not from the county recorder. As such title plants don't track them at all. Typically for a court case to have an impact on title, a lis pendens (notice of pending lawsuit) has to be filed with the county recorder. In that case, a title plant would have the lis pendens, but you would then have to research the case to find out what it was (probate, civil suit, etc). I don't believe lis pendens are typically filed in probate cases, so that would not be a reliable source regardless.

As for sources on probate cases, you would need to pull that information from the court in each county that handles probates. 3147 counties nationally. We've looked at all the data resellers on probate records, and we haven't found one with enough quality, reliability and coverage are to meet our standards for adding them to our product. Instead we recommend investors source them directly in their county.

Joshua McGinnis · Answer

@Sean OTooleAre these title plants also pulling probate records as well? I've been wondering for the longest time where the various probate lead "dealers" have been sourcing their leads when I know that many of them do not have the resources or systems in place to mine the data at every county in the US.

Helen Zhang · Answer

@Rick Harmon, thanks for the recommendation.

As I previously mentioned, I am willing to pay the service for an online automation tool to do the due diligence. TitlePro sounds interesting, I will give that a try.

I've purchased properties thru short sale, standard sale, and cash sales. The truth is, a deal is a deal regardless what kind sale it is... and some of them, might be auctions. It's almost impossible to find a deal that involves with 0 competitions unless you found a seller that have not listed his house on mls, so I really don't mind go through auctions =)

Any Reliable Title Report Online Services?

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