If I'm Selling My Own Home, Why Do I Need Title Insurance?

  The seller in a real estate transaction is responsible for providing an Owner’s Policy to the new owner.

How Does Title Insurance Protect Me?

    Title Insurance works the opposite of your health or home-owners insurance, which pays for loss or injury after the effective date of the policy.  Title Insurance pays for events which occurred before the effective date. It is the best protection you can have against any claims that may arise out of the past. 

What Is Title Insurance?

    The purchase of a home is probably the single largest investment you'll make in your lifetime. It is only prudent that you want to safeguard your rights and investment. Title Insurance assures that your rights and interest to the property are as expected, that the transfer of ownership is smoothly completed and that you receive protection from future claims against the property.  It is the most effective, most accepted and least expensive way to protect your ownership rights.

    Before your real estate transaction closes, the title company performs an extensive search of all recorded documents related to the property. These records are then examined by experienced title officers to determine their effect on the current status of ownership and a report is issued to you or your agents for review.  This thorough examination generally allows any pending title problems to be identified and cleared prior to your purchase of the property.

    If title insurance companies work to eliminate risks and prevent loses caused by defects in the title before closing, why do you need a title insurance policy?

    Even after the most careful research, some title flaws may go undetected. Among the more common flaws to title which are not of record are forgery, invalid court proceedings, mistaken legal interpretations, defective deeds, confusion due to similarity of names, previously unrecognized right of spouses and undisclosed heirs.  These problems may surface at any time in the future.

    Protection against the flaws and other claims is provided by the title insurance policy which is issued after your transaction is complete. It agrees to assume the responsibility for legal defense of your title for any defect covered under the policy's terms and to reimburse you for actual financial losses up to the policy limits.

Why should I sell my house myself?

    You set the price, you set the terms:  Nobody is going to tell you what to sell the house for. You can advertise where you want, when you want; schedule showings when it's convenient for you, talk directly to the prospective homebuyers - you will have a much better idea of how interested people are, what they like about the house, how serious they are about buying, and what their timeframe and situation is.

Don't I Need A Lawyer or Realtor to Transfer My Property?

    No - you do not need a lawyer or realtor, but you DO need a Title Company and Closing Service to protect your interests in the transaction.  Wisconsin Title's Closing Specialists prepare all the paperwork necessary for a smooth and professional transaction.

What is a Starker Exchange?

    If you are planning to sell an investment property and purchase another property or multiple properties in the near future, a Starker Exchange can help you defer your capital gains taxes.  Wisconsin Title performs Starker Exchanges as a service to our customers when we are issuing title policies on the properties involved.

HOME         Back to FSBO