What is a Pre-Escrow Title Report?
Posted October 27, 2018 in Real Estate Trends
You’ve decided to sell your house. You call one of the many professional Realtors in the area, and they explain the benefits of listing your home for sale with them. Make sure your Realtor agrees to order a Pre-Escrow (or Listing Order) title report. Why?
Strictly speaking, a title report (also called a Preliminary Commitment for Title Insurance) is not needed until a buyer is found for the property and a Purchase and Sale Agreement is signed. That’s the time at which Clark County Title is named as the title company to do the title search and close the transaction (draw up the deed and handle the money). The problem: sometimes, the title search uncovers a problem. Perhaps the seller doesn’t have clear title because they inherited the property without the proper documentation, got divorced, had a judgment or lien entered against them, or a previous owner created a problem.
When your Realtor orders a Pre-Escrow title report immediately upon listing the property for sale, the seller and title company has time to uncover title problems and correct them. That way, when the buyer says “I’ll take it,” the closing won’t be delayed while the seller searches boxes of old documents looking for Grandpa’s last Will, or while Acme Bank confirms that the seller paid off a loan years ago but a release document was never recorded to remove the loan from the title to the property.
Most people don’t know the condition of title to their property. Maybe they don’t realize that their line of credit is secured by their house, or that the judgment they suffered after not paying their credit card is now a lien against their property. The only way of a seller to be sure that they have clear title is to have a title search done.
And, while you’re meeting with your Realtor, make sure you tell them you prefer to use Clark County Title! We’d love to be a part of your successful transaction!
Scott Hogan
Clark County Title
Scott@ClarkCountyTitle.com360-694-4722
1400 Washington St, Ste. 100
Vancouver, WA360-787-9197
3200 SE 164th Avenue, Ste. 219
Vancouver, WA 98683