Among the many factors to consider when buying a home, title insurance is one that can easily be forgotten. However, title insurance is a valuable asset when purchasing a new home, whether it is your first experience as a homebuyer or not.
The time it takes to secure can vary, but some factors can make it quicker than usual—or take longer than normal. In order to ensure that you have a clear understanding of how to plan your home-buying journey, it is important to learn more about how long it might take to get title insurance.
Why Get Title Insurance During a Home Purchase
Title insurance is one of those resources that hovers under the radar—until you need it. Those who opt to purchase title insurance are often relieved to find that the financial burden of a deed or title issue after closing on their home is handled by the insurance policy, so they do not lose their down payment or other monetary value.
Title insurance protects a home buyer from unexpected problems with their home purchase, even years after the fact, such as the appearance of a previously unknown heir or the discovery of forgery or former liens on the property. A mortgage lender will always elect to get title insurance for themselves to protect their purchase, which indicates that it is a smart move for new homeowners as well.
What Delays Or Expedites The Process Of Securing Title Insurance
When you make an application for title insurance, the insuring agency will scour public records about your home’s title to locate any potential issues such as liens or encumbrances. Sometimes, this information is readily available and no issues are present, in which case you can expect the insurance process to proceed fairly smoothly and quickly. It may only take a couple weeks if your title is clean and the inspector can find nothing wrong in the property’s history.
However, errors in the title, evidence of forgery or other issues can delay the approval of title insurance while the inspector works to uncover the actual details of the title and ascertain what the truth of the matter is. The more complex the home’s history or the more errors or other issues are present, the longer the delay in securing insurance.
Once any issues have been determined regarding the title, the inspector will begin the process of “clearing” the title so that it is free of any problems. Any of these unresolved circumstances are addressed during a period of time called the curing period. For example, if the insurance agency notes that there is a lien on the property, they will go through the process of securing the proof that the lien has been paid from the lien holder or will otherwise arrange for the lien to be paid off.
If unexpected heirs to the property are discovered, they will be contacted and their claim to the property or their revocation of it documented appropriately. Most of the time, a potential home buyer is not aware of any of these projects that are undertaken by the title insurance agency, as they simply wait for the curing period to resolve before they can progress with their insurance application.
How Long You Can Expect To Wait
How long it takes to get title insurance will vary based on the variety of factors mentioned above. If your title is already clean and has no noticeable issues, you can expect to wait only about two weeks on average from application to approval. However, if your title shows issues that must be resolved before the application can progress, the length of your curing period may vary depending upon the specific details that are holding up the process.
Agencies will work as quickly as possible to resolve any issues related to a title. Once you have secured title insurance, you are protected not only against any issues that the inspector found but potential problems too.
Rely On The Experience Title Insurance Providers
If you are considering insurance for your new home purchase, it is important that you do your research; remember to budget this time into your timeline for securing a policy. An experienced provider such as Mathis Title Company can help you understand your options for insurance and walk you through any potential problems that will need to be cured before you can proceed. Reach out to schedule an appointment to discuss potential options for your home purchase and ask any questions that you may have about the process.