Owners title insurance

12 years ago

I purchased land 18 months ago and paid for title insurance. As part of my new build, I deeded the land to the builder so that he could obtain his financing for the build (builder is large, well-respected builder in our community and has done a couple of extreme home builds) and was given credit for the price I paid for the land towards the new home build (land price plus contract build cost).

We are closing on Friday and the question came up whether or not we want to pay for owners title insurance. This is about $1,000 so I don't want to pay for it if it really doesn't do much for me.

Does anyone have experience in this area that wants to chime in? My thinking is that since the lender will have title insurance (paid by me), and since my original title insurance should cover prior title issues with the land, then I should be pretty safe not taking out this additional coverage.

I am open to advice on this one. I have until Thursday afternoon to make a decision on this.

Thanks,

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Comments (9)

renovator8
12 years ago
This is a question for the lawyer who is representing you in the transaction.
worthy
12 years ago
Ditto.

As part of my new build, I deeded the land to the builder so that he could obtain his financing for the build

Wow!

So if he runs into trouble, you have your contract as basis for a suit. And a place in line with the rest of his creditors.
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crazy_in_mason
12 years ago
You should buy your title's insurance. It will protect you if your builder did not pay some of the contractors that built your house. The title company will have to pay not you if that occurs.
abdrury
12 years ago
By your name are you building in Louisville? Sounds like maybe Elite Homes? We're using Landmark but I've met Joe Pusateri and he seems like a stand up guy. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the finished product!

We will likely opt for the coverage just in case. Wouldn't want any liens placed on your property. They do seem like a great company so that's worth consideration.
kymike
Original Author
12 years ago
Yes, we built with Elite. Very happy with the build process.

We opted to not go with title insurance. Hopefully, that proves out to be a good decision.
brickeyee
12 years ago
Suing the person who gave you defective title is an option, and title insurance allows you to avoid that route for the most part (the title insurance company may still go after the grantor though if they can be found).

You probably cold have gotten a large discount on both lender's an owner's title insurance if you used the same insurer again within a few years.

The discounts are pretty common in refinances also.
tncraft
12 years ago
I personally would not go without title insurance. It was great to have it when we had to deal with easement issues. Nobody knew anything about the easement in our lot. The county had no record. The developer didn't have a record. Only the utility company had a record of the easement, but they didn't even know why it was there.
kymike
Original Author
12 years ago
I may go back to the company that issued title insurance when I purchased the lot to see what they might be able to do for me (too late to go with them for lender's title insurance).
jamiecrok
12 years ago
I am not sure since you didn't ''own'' the land the whole time but if you are just adding to the amount of your title coverage ask for a re-issue rate. Since your original coverage is probably for the land price only you may want to increase the coverage amount for the price with the improvement on it. Again since the builder owned the lot I don't know if that would apply for you.

Owners title insurance

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renovator8

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Owners title insurance

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