Investors rely heavily on the closing agent to give them a title policy at closing to insure their interest in the property. Unfortunately most investors don’t know the difference between an insurable and marketable title and it can come back to haunt them in the future.

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I looked forward to writing this article about as much as twisting my little finger off with a pair of pliers. It started when a real estate broker and mentor student called to say that she now understands why I hate realtors (I don’t hate realtors). She went on to explain  how the couple of deals she was working on were messed up constantly by other agents’ arrogance and that they were clueless about how to get a deal closed if it wasn’t
perfect in every aspect. They also expected the co-broker’s agent to do all the necessary work as they sell listings and don’t have to do the dirty work to get the deals closed.

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It happens on a regular basis, someone asks me about doing owner financing on a property they own so they can sell it to a buyer who can’t get a conventional mortgage. The logic is simple, it’s better  to take some income on the property than get nothing at all, and the selling price could be what the seller was asking. Sounds good, sell the property and put the money in a higher yielding mortgage instead of a certificate of deposit or a passbook account. But looks can be deceiving and reality can be cruel.

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