Simplifying Titles with Brett Haller of Express Title

Jim sits down with Brett Haller, aka “Your Go-To Title Guy,” from Express Title to unpack the vital role title companies play in home buying and selling. With 14 years of experience in real estate, Brett brings a wealth of knowledge from both the buying side and title side of the transaction.

What Does a Title Company Do?

• A title company acts as the glue that holds a real estate transaction together, coordinating between buyers, sellers, lenders, and agents.
• They ensure the property’s title is free of encumbrances, liens, or other legal issues before ownership is transferred.
• Title companies handle escrow deposits, verify all necessary documentation, and oversee the closing process to finalize the sale.

The Title Process:

1. Start with a Contract: Once a contract is signed, the title company opens a file and begins coordination.
2. Title Search & Municipal Search: They check for issues like unpaid liens, open permits, and ownership disputes.
3. Resolving Issues: If problems arise (e.g., permits, probate), they work to resolve them quickly to avoid delays.
4. Closing Coordination: They ensure all parties—buyers, sellers, lenders, and insurers—are prepared and all documents are accurate and signed.

Common Title Issues:

• Probate Issues: Previous ownership complications.
• Fraud: Ensuring sellers are legitimate owners.
• Unpermitted Additions: Unresolved permits can delay or derail a transaction.

Title Insurance:

• Owner’s Policy: Protects buyers from future title disputes.
• Lender’s Policy: Required by lenders to safeguard their investment.

Tips for Buyers & Sellers:

• Stay Organized: Know your deadlines for deposits, inspections, and other contingencies.
• Respond Promptly: Provide requested documents (e.g., bank statements) quickly to avoid delays.
• Ask Questions: Be proactive, especially when dealing with new construction or complex contracts.

What's Next?
Interested in buying or selling a home on the Suncoast, or connect with this week's guest? Reach out to Jim at jim.ahearn@gmail.com or visit his website, Jim Sells the Suncoast.

A Personal Note from Jim:

Hey there, I’m Jim Ahearn, your go-to real estate guide and host of Jim Sells The Suncoast podcast! 🎙️✨ Dreaming of Florida life? I’ve got you covered! As your dedicated buyer's agent, I’ll handle everything from walk-throughs to closing, making your home-buying journey as smooth as a Florida breeze.

Whether you're local or tuning in from afar, I’ll bring the Suncoast to you with virtual tours and expert advice. Let’s chat about your dream home and I'll connect you with all the right people to make it happen.

Ready to move to paradise? Drop me a line – I can’t wait to help! 🌴🏡

Transcript

Jim: 0:51

Good morning and welcome to Jim sells the Suncoast today. I am privileged to have Brett Holler with me from express title. He has been in this area instrumental in the area. Start off the real estate down into Miami about 14 years ago. Has moved over title, so he's able to give perspective on both. Brett, welcome. Thank you

Brett: 1:11

for

Jim: 1:11

having me,

Brett: 1:11

Jim.

Jim: 1:12

I am doing great.

Brett: 1:14

We definitely are and I definitely Want to take one moment to just say, it's been a rough couple months for everyone But definitely the last few weeks as well. So I know i'm blessed and fortunate to be doing. Okay. I talked to you prior. I know you're doing okay, but You know just a moment for everyone that's still going through a lot of the chaoticness and craziness That's It's something but I will say as someone born and raised in florida is a very resilient place and People no matter what will never stop wanting to move here.

Jim: 1:45

Yeah,

Brett: 1:45

You know as devastating as it is. We always come back and we come back stronger

Jim: 1:50

you bring up a good point there when I bought my first house we made the offer and then we're like we'll close in, 30 days or 45 days what is going to take so long? And I know a lot of that is the title process we're going to go through and really talk about So as a general rule, what role does a title company play in home buying and selling?

Brett: 2:07

So basically to, if I were to sum up in one sentence, what we do, I would say at title company, we're like that Elmer's glue that holds the deal together. We're the middleman. Let's start from the beginning in the sense of you are a realtor that has a new contract. You are representing a buyer. And your customer is directing the title, or perhaps you're a listing agent and you're selling a home and the seller is directing the title. No matter what, you always need a closing agent to close the property for you. Florida is a title state in the sense of you're not required to work with a attorney. However, working with an attorney can give you that added layer of value and protection. So let's, so starting from the beginning the title company is involved right away from the get go. The second there's a contract and it's fully executed, that contract will automatically be by whichever realtor and the transaction's customer is. Essentially paying for title, right? So we call that the directing customer. That realtor would then send us that new file, let us know, Hey, I'm so and so with X, Y, Z company. We have a new contract. My customer is directing title or paying for title. Which of course generally means. That they're paying for the other closing costs as well. And in that sense, we would then go ahead and open the file, which means the process of all the things that we'll do, which we'll get into for the file to be successfully closed. Starting with, usually there's a, the clock is ticking on that initial deposit. So the first thing a realtor will usually do is advise their customer. We're going under contract and we've identified we're going to put down however much that amount is right. Sometimes it's 3, 000. Sometimes it's 100, 000. Usually the deposit amount is correlated to the amount of the property price. So what we would do is we would send wire instructions. through a safe and secure portal. Our company uses one called qualia and basically whoever is sending in the money will receive those instructions from us. And once we receive the wire, the initial deposit, we'll send out a letter and essentially. We're now in business, right? We have money, we have a hard contract that's signed by everyone. And now the process can really begin. So before, anything is even done, we've already gone through all those steps. And I would probably argue the most important step for a title company which is very important for realtors and lenders alike to know is. When they send us a contract or send any title company a contract, the sooner we have everyone's information, the better, because to your point on why did it take, 30 days or 45 days to flip, there's times where as a title company, we might be waiting two days for someone to send us contact information. So that could be a two day delay right there,

Jim: 5:24

right?

Brett: 5:25

If we get a contract and most detailed realtors Will send it to us this way. They'll send us a contract and then in that email everyone's contact information

Jim: 5:39

recap real quick you're like the clearinghouse for all the information and all the processes Going back and forth through the different groups whether it's the buyer and the seller You probably most of the time have a mortgage under, maybe not if they're paying cash. You've got exactly the insurance broker. And those are the main players. So we start with a contract. If I'm representing the buyer, we make our offer. They accept it. My first call is to you, Hey, this is in play Now here's all the players. Here's their address or contact and names. Here's what we're using. And then you're going to be the one to coordinate to make sure everybody's hitting their targets, their dates their responsibilities, and then the followup on what's going on.

Brett: 6:19

Exactly. So for example, there are so many different things that could come up initially when the transaction is open. If there's, probate involved, if there's any other, tag involved to that transaction, the sooner we have that information, the better, because the title company might need to reach out for something like a death certificate or any document that we would need to attach to that transactions to make sure everything is being done safe and securely and lead fully.

Jim: 6:49

Everything's vetted. proof.

Brett: 6:51

Exactly.

Jim: 6:52

All right. So we go through, we've got this process started. You're handling, we do the escrow deposit. What are the next You talked a little bit about it, but really you're gonna go through and start verifying that all the information is true and correct. And there's no encumbrance or lien that's gonna get in the way.

Brett: 7:08

Exactly. So basically once, let's say there is lender involved, once we have the deposit and that initial, we start working immediately, right? But we really dive even deeper once that initial inspection period is over because then we know, okay, these people are moving through with the process. We've all seen those deals where there's so much work done ahead of time and then 3 days later. Oh, there they decided not to move ahead because whatever the inspection. So we do order title right away. What I mean is we send the file to our underwriter. And request in order for title in order for title means they know that we have a sale or a purchase going on And we'll be transferring the ownership for one person or one party to another party the first thing that's done is the title search as well as the municipality in search So in the title search they're looking for any clouds liens, encumbrances, anything on the actual property from a ownership standpoint.

Jim: 8:10

You just mean something that's not right.

Brett: 8:12

Real estate is a very black and white world. Very few things should ever be gray. Because there's either 1 way or another, it's not this or kind of that. So the municipal search, similar to the title search is. a search that's done through whatever municipality properties. And so if it's, if they're looking for Sarasota County, if it's a place like, let's say, Northport, you have searches being done for Sarasota County as well as the city of Northport for things like permits and whatnot. So those 2 things that we're ordering. And we're waiting to get back that way. Once a search is done, we know we can go ahead and tell that customer, Hey, we received the lien search back the title search back There's no issues. There's nothing out of the ordinary. We can go ahead and proceed with the purchase. And during that time, if this is, let's say a finance purchase. The lender is also working in tandem with us and keeping us abreast of everything that's going on whether it's their initial approval, whether approved, but have to get through this list of 12 conditions or whatever the case being or to your point, maybe it's cash and there is no lender

Jim: 9:27

involved.

Brett: 9:27

But when the lender is involved, this would really be the time that we're working in collaboration to now get the deal done as quickly as possible. We know that there's nothing on the property from a title aspect or from, a local aspect as far as permits, liens, any things like that that would, Delay the buyer from moving forward.

Jim: 9:47

That's got to be resolved beforehand before you can actually close, which is going to take additional time and possibly change parameters through that. Once all that's done, now we're pushing a closing When we get down to that closing, that final thing, you're there to make sure everybody is contributing their part. Meaning the mortgage, they brought the money, the insurance brought the binder, the people showed up with whatever they have to final close out. You've got all the signatures. You put it all together and then it's done.

Brett: 10:21

Exactly. So to your point, being that glue that holds everything together as the title company, all these updates that come up throughout the transaction, whether it's, the inspection came back clean and they're ready to proceed, or, the buyers are actually approved and the file came back from underwriting from the lender. And, it's not clear to close, but they're approved. And we know that.

Jim: 10:44

Barring something unusual, we're going to be good.

Brett: 10:47

So during this whole time, really, what we're focusing on is getting all that information, compiling it together and adding it off the file. So everything, from the start of our transaction to the end, we use, like I said before, a software called qualia. Everything is safe and secure. It's protecting all the customers personal private information. It's very easy for everyone to access and that's where all of the documents will go. So whether it's a title commitment from the underwriter coming back and saying properties has free and clear title, and we're going to go ahead and issue a policy at the closing. So then they will issue what's called a title commitment. And that's basically like a lender saying, we're going to give you the loan. That's like the title company saying, we're going to go ahead and insure the property.

Jim: 11:36

We've checked everything. It's all good.

Brett: 11:38

Exactly.

Jim: 11:40

So what are some of the common issues during a title search? But what's the common things you might find?

Brett: 11:46

in a state like Florida people from all over the country and of all backgrounds and ages, love to move here for the sunshine. It's like something they all have in common. They're all wanting to get out of the cold. So you end up with a lot of people here that are selling homes that are either passed down from generation to another. Or, the owner had multiple children. So you see a lot of issues when it comes to prior ownership as far as things like probate issues and, not necessarily having everything done as. Clean and crystal clear as it should have been. And then I would argue another thing that we see here too often is fraud,

Jim: 12:29

right?

Brett: 12:30

So it's very important for everyone to be careful in a transaction. And we can get into that a little bit also. But it's that we see a lot of fraud. For example, We'll have someone claiming to be a seller. We find out they're not really the owner of the property. We've had that happen a number of times. And I would say another huge thing, which is not always a deal maker or breaker. It just needs to get rectified before the closing is. Permits and liens, right? So many people, the windows they put in 10 years ago to replace the old ones, they had a neighbor do it. They didn't get a permit Is that illegal? Yes. And it needs to be rectified because the new owner wants to make sure that what they're buying is Safe and secure. So sometimes these things involve closing out a permit or opening up a permit, having an item inspected and closing it out then

Jim: 13:26

Right?

Brett: 13:26

So I would say those are a few things that are very common that would come back. What's great is that it happens so early in the transaction It's like a health issue. You'd rather find out as soon as possible so that you can do something about it. And if the property is not something that the customer is willing to move forward on again, that would be a great time for them.

Jim: 13:50

Right

Brett: 13:51

transaction if the issues were too large to rectify Something like closing out a permit on a carport, for example the worst thing that could happen would be they would tell you hey, you got to remove the carport, right? maybe there was a screen cage put on the lanai And it wasn't done permanent. They might make you take that off. Those would be examples of something. that you could have again in the future. But at least, what you're buying is safe and secure, and you ultimately want that title policy signed, sealed and delivered to everyone. Because at the end of the day, if there were to be another issue from a previous owner, or from a previous. Lifetime especially in an area like this where there's some very old properties It's your safeguard.

Jim: 14:39

So how do you determine? The insurability of property title and what kind of insurances are available?

Brett: 14:46

So when it comes to title insurance, you have two main policies. You have the owner's policy protect you from any clouds or encumbrances on your title. And then there's also a lender's policy. if you are financing your property. Regardless of what type of loan, whether it's, FHA or conventional, you need to have a lender's policy it's basically providing the lender who's loaning the money to the buyer to obtain the house. that safe. Guard and that assurity and comfort that the buyers also receive the buyer has that paper to tell them, this is what you have to protect you in case of an emergency. The lender also has that.

Jim: 15:32

They wanna know they're not gonna be on the hook for some money down the road.

Brett: 15:36

Exactly. So it protects everyone. And then, on a buyer's side, one thing is, or associated with Florida, and especially right now with everyone thing going on as the buyer, you want make sure you're purchasing a very good homeowner's policy. And if you're financing the property, you'll have to provide a homeowner's policy because it will protect you financially, if God forbid, something does happen to your home. Of course, it's very wise that the lender would require that too, because if their money is on the hook for your property for 15, 20, 30 years, they want to make sure, hey, if a storm waves through their neighborhood and they have all this damage, is strong enough to cover what we need for it to be brought back to the condition it was when we loaned them the home?

Jim: 16:20

So that everything's legitimate and documented and ready to go when you go to sell it.

Brett: 16:26

Exactly. So that's your general homeowner's insurance. But then, as we know, There's additional forms of homeowners insurance that we're seeing now become more and more common. With all the storms going around, one of the most important insurance is you can have insurance. We live in an area where we have part of our counties. in barrier islands. There's very little protection around them. If you live in any of those islands, and your home is financed, you have a very Hefty flood policy because the lender is going to require it.

Jim: 16:59

Right?

Brett: 17:00

Whatever policy they have or don't have, of course, that's up to them. We have flood zones in Florida, which go all the way down to X and, it's based on the elevation of how high your property is in terms of how many feet high it is from sea level. The farther you go inland from those barrier islands. Your need for flood insurance traditionally has been less and less. For example, you have a lot of realtors that will say, and lenders that will say things like, oh, the house doesn't need flood insurance. It's not in a flood zone. It's a misnomer. We hear that a lot of times from our because all of Florida really is a flood zone. It's just that the risk of your property flooding. much lower being more inland or being so far away from sea or high above that, it might not be a requirement. I know for sure, just on a personal level, after all these storms, I'm not in a flood zone. But when I found out the cost for flood insurance, because I'm not in a flood zone, it's so minimal. I'm going to go ahead and add that policy on my renewal because there's just no reason not to. I'd rather save the money on something else. It's just it's a scary, it's a scary thing to think about. I would say that those are the four most important. Policies.

Jim: 18:18

What is the typical cost associated with the title insurance and how are they calculated?

Brett: 18:25

So we have a table that we follow and it goes from. The property price being, 100 all the way up to, anywhere like 20 million and the amount of the policy is directly correlated to the property price. So the less the property price, the less the policy I just had a closing a couple weeks ago for a customer. on a vacant parcel of land in Northport. I want to say the policy was 160 or something like that.

Jim: 19:00

Right.

Brett: 19:01

That means that for a 20, 000 purchase now for the life of ownership of that property for less than 200 plus whatever cost they had, closed, If there's any issue that ever occurred at any time on title, they'll be protected,

Jim: 19:19

So I was gonna say what then does somebody need to bring what kind of documentation or paperwork? What I as a buyer need to bring to start that title insurance process

Brett: 19:32

So generally speaking from us we require actually very little the contract is of course the most important thing Once we have a contract really what we need from everyone is their contact information, right? If the property is being purchased from customers that are financing all of that really all those documents, let's say from things like bank statements to physical identification whether it's your driver's license or passport or multiple ids All of that stuff generally goes first to the lender,

Jim: 20:04

right?

Brett: 20:05

We don't see any of that until the day of the closing.

Jim: 20:07

Okay.

Brett: 20:07

So on the day of the closing, that's when we would go ahead and make copies of the customer's identification. Whoever is signing is who they say that they in fact are. We don't necessarily ask for a whole lot of personal information from these people other than we get a buyer's input sheet and a seller's input sheet at the start of the transaction. And that goes on when we're waiting on the deposit and we're inputting the contract on our end with all the terms and everything into our system. And that's basically where we would get that information. Any information that we didn't already get in that initial email from, let's say the realtor or whoever sending us the file that's where they would go ahead and fill that out.

Jim: 20:51

right?

Brett: 20:53

Usually it's mostly basic information. They just want to make sure the contact information matches what you give them and all of that. But like I said It's just verifying they are who they say they are. the underwriter is doing all of that the lender is doing all of that. We will find out if something is not cohesive Throughout the transaction

Jim: 21:14

so generally speaking for you as a title you need the contract And then verify verification of identity really the mortgage company will take all their information The insurance company will get all their information

Brett: 21:28

Really? It depends on the circumstances. So for example if the buyer's very communicative and they're just, going back and forth with their lender on everything that they need, we usually just get updates. There's some buyers that are not as available or sellers that are not as available. And then what will happen is whatever vendor it is that we're dealing with, maybe it's the lender, maybe it's the insurance company, a lot of times, we'll hear from them and say, Hey have you been able to reach the buyers or have you been able to reach the sellers, the closings coming up in 10 days, and we're just wanting to make sure everyone's on the same page So it's very common that the title company would come in to reach out to everyone. Title seems to be who's reached out to when there's any issue.

Jim: 22:14

Probably you've got that relationship with each of the people involved. So it makes it easy to go stop. Exactly.

Brett: 22:20

To your point, if a customer is freaking out about something on a Sunday morning and they really need me to get in touch with the attorney, or they really need me to get an answer for them on a question, I can get all that done for them. And that's what's very important. If they need me to reach out to, another one of the vendors involved in the transaction, and I have a close relationship with them and I can get them to answer the call after hours, again, that's where the value is brought in and it's just to your point, making sure that we're keeping everyone on the same page and keeping everyone moving along as smooth as possible,

Jim: 23:00

so here's a question in the area, we have a lot of new construction going on. Is there any real fundamental difference with new construction versus buying an existing home?

Brett: 23:11

There is. So when it comes to new construction, a lot of the local and even regional Or national builders, because there's all types here. And as you see, we have communities with 24 new homes. We have communities with 450 new homes and everything in between. When you look at larger builders like Lennar, DR Horton, Taylor Morrison, those companies all own their own title company. So for example, if you as a realtor are bringing your customers to one of those developments, the first thing they're going to be offered is. The right to work with their own title company and their own lender. Of course, when you have things like incentives at play, there might be incentives for them to go ahead and work with those people. Now on the flip side that doesn't mean that's what's in the customer's best interest right sometimes free closing costs Don't always mean a better experience So therefore some developers will require you to use their closing company but a lot do not so that's another misconception Is that just because you're buying pre construction means you have to work with every one of their vendors? That's where I would say, it never hurts to ask the question.

Jim: 24:32

Right?

Brett: 24:32

So I know, for example, if we get a new development contract from someone, regardless of the community. I know that we're going to make sure that the attorneys are reviewing everything and making sure that purchasing in this community is in the customer's best interest. The verbiage on their contract is okay because again, a lot of these developer contracts, they're not the standard Florida far bar contract. A lot of them are working with their own purchase agreements, 99 percent of the things you're going to have to go ahead and agree with because it's their community

Jim: 25:10

yeah, there's not anything wrong with that just be aware of what you're getting into

Brett: 25:16

point

Jim: 25:17

be aware of what I always tell people

Brett: 25:19

it's about the options and making sure whatever is best for you,

Jim: 25:22

right?

Brett: 25:23

It's never because one is better than the other it's never be afraid to ask the question. Because with all that types of inventory, you have a lot of new inventory now competing with old inventory. And as a realtor, you also just want to make sure. you're helping your custo sure that they're happy w So that starts from picki right property.

Jim: 25:48

handle that as a claim?

Brett: 25:51

So came back from previous ownership as Oh my God, this never came up, which by the way can happen because people are human.

Jim: 26:00

Yep.

Brett: 26:00

I would say the first step is call your closing company. So if you use the title company, call them. If you use an attorney, call him, call her. It's important to get in touch with them first. If you're able to right, if not, you look at your policy and you call that underwriter company, you call the title insurance company that provided the policy to you and you just get on the phone with them and someone will help you because that's what they're there for.

Jim: 26:32

Okay,

Brett: 26:32

None of this is new to them. And what sounds really scary to a homeowner sometimes might really be something that's not the end of the world, right?

Jim: 26:43

But the first thing you want to

Brett: 26:44

I would say either call your closing agent to let them call for you. Or if they're not available. just go ahead and call the title insurance company and, get that conversation started and see what the next steps look like.

Jim: 26:58

So what advice would you give for buyers and sellers to have a smooth title transfer?

Brett: 27:05

I would argue that the most important thing for buyers and sellers alike is organization as well as good communication buying or selling a home for the duration of that transaction, which it could be 14 days. It could be 60 days. It could be a longer closing because, the buyers can't close until On their new home until they close on their previous home or whatever the case may be, the sellers can't move out until their new home is ready, but the buyer has to close by a certain date for their loan, their interest rate locked, whatever the case being

Jim: 27:42

Know your dates. Know your time frames. Know when things are due.

Brett: 27:46

I would argue that organization would be the most important thing for everyone involved in the transaction to have because when you deal with a transaction, you're dealing with timelines. Everything is due by a certain date. The contract will stipulate that the inspection period is over by a certain date. The money initial deposit is due by a certain date. If there's a second deposit, that second deposit is going to be due by a certain date. If there's a loan, the financing contingency ends on a certain

Jim: 28:17

date.

Brett: 28:18

The organization starts from the beginning and it's for everyone involved. For example, the realtor. I would say they should be providing their customer with a timeline of when these things are due on the lender side. I would hope that generally they have a team of people helping them. Usually there's not just a lender. The lender might have a processor. They have their underwriting team, everyone having all their information correct and then getting everyone everything they need as quickly and timely as possible. These are things that make a transaction go smoother. So another example would be if a lender says to a buyer, listen, we need, 4 months of your bank statements. You're a first time homebuyer. We need a little bit more information,

Jim: 29:04

right?

Brett: 29:04

If you take three days to get those bank statements back to the lender, that's now three more days before they can send it to underwriting, which it could take another 24, 48 hours, depending how busy underwriting is to come back and say, okay, yes we got that. So the more organized everyone can stay and the faster they can get everyone the information that they need. It's possible to close a lot quicker. I know when I bought my first home as the first time home buyer I took all that information to heart and I was able to close with a first time home buyer alone in 24 days, The longer people wait, the longer things take. And when it comes to a transaction, time is not always on your

Jim: 29:49

side. Yeah, modern technology can help with that with

Brett: 29:52

100%. It's so easy for you to log into your bank app and just save your statements as a PDF and email them. You can probably do it in Five minutes. So I would say that a transaction can move as quickly and smoothly as everyone participating it allows for. The only other thing I really want to emphasize is that make sure whoever you're working with for your closings is someone that you feel very comfortable with and a company that you can really trust, but as well a company that's always there for you because like I mentioned before, real estate is a business that's seven days a week. And it doesn't discriminate against holidays. Sometimes a customer wants to put an offer in on, a holiday weekend, right? Whatever these things may be, make sure you're working with a company that makes themselves available for you and makes you as important to them as your customers are to you.

Jim: 30:47

Awesome. Brett, thank you so much. I appreciate you being here. Thank you so much.

Brett: 30:52

Likewise. See you soon.