Opening Titles and Closing Remarks

Ask the Title Guy - How do I make sure that my closing is wired? Part 3

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:52:38 -0500

Indiana's new Good Better Funds Law is effective July 1, 2009. Many of my clients are expressing concerns about back to back real estate closings and how to avoid long delays in funding while waiting for wire transfers to be received by the title company. If a chain of two or more closings is happening with a single closing agent there won't be nearly the problem with getting acceptable funds. Once the closing agent receives wire transferred funds on the first transaction the proceeds from each successive closing will already be in the closing agent's escrow account and wire transfering will be unnecessary. If a chain of transactions is closing with more than one title company or closing agent then the first closing agent will need to wire transfer the seller's proceeds to the next title company.

To minimize delays, I recommend that you try and schedule your closings on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings. A Tuesday or Wednesday closing will be among the first ones to be worked on by the lender each week. Friday closings only get worked on after the previous days closings are completed. We find that many scheduled Friday closings get bumped back to later in the day or rescheduled for the following Monday. Closing Tuesday or Wednesday puts your deal near the front of the line.

A closing that is completed by 10:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. will allow enough time for the closing agent to order the wire transfer to the next closing agent and for the wire transfer to be sent and received by the banks involved. Successfully completing wire transfers involve a number of people and processes. The title company at either end has little or no control or influence over these people or processes. Some banks will process wire transfers immediately. Some banks do them in batches only two or three times a day. Over the years I've come to realize that no one I can talk with knows for sure when a wire transfer has actually been sent. When people tell me that they've sent the wire they almost always mean that they've just given it to the next person in the process.

I am confident that John Bethell Title Company, Inc. will handle the logistics of this new law fairly well. Our bank processes wire transfers as they receive the requests. We receive email confirmation of wires transfers sent and received. We have a later cut-off than at most other banks. Much of the process is within our own control. Still, wire transferring will take longer than cutting a check to someone. The irreversible nature of wire transfers requires that we employ careful accounting procedures to prevent data entry, transcription or other errors; more procedures than we need when cutting checks.

Scheduling your closings for earlier in the day and earlier in the week will allow for the money to get to where it needs to be when it needs to be there.

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Another post in my continuing series Ask the Title Guy.

We've prepared a Wire Transfer Information Kit for Realtors® that Tammy Walker is currently distributing. If you'd like one, please email me or leave a comment.

Ask the Title Guy - How do I make sure my that closing is wired? Part 1

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:13:38 -0500

I hope that by now all Indiana Realtors®, mortgage lenders and other real estate professionals know about Indiana House Bill 1374. This new law, which is effective on July 1, 2009, prohibits title companies from disbursing real estate closings without funds over $10,000 having been wire transferred to the title company. I summarized the law in an earlier post here.

During the month of May I watched our business with an eye towards how this new law might disrupt or enhance closings. Reviewing our deposit records I see that about one-half of our purchase closings would have required the buyer to wire us funds had this law been in effect last month. We've also talked with a number of banks to get an idea of the process that will be involved for buyers needing to wire their funds.

The most important thing we can do is to prepare buyers and sellers. Managing expectations will go a long way towards keeping the closing a pleasant experience for all. Buyers should be made aware in advance that wiring their money may be required. Sellers must be cautioned that there's a possibility that funds may not be available immediately at the closing.

The biggest change is for buyers, who often are going to be required to wire their closing funds. After talking with several banks it seems that three or four hours is the average time that (meaning some will take longer) it will take for a wire to be initiated by the buyer at their bank and received by the settlement agent's bank. Many banks have early afternoon cut offs for processing both outgoing and incoming wire transfers. This will result in some wire transfers not being completed until the following day.

Instructions for wire transferring funds to our escrow account are now included with each title insurance commitment we issue. Give the buyer a copy of those instructions when you receive the commitment. We are distributing an information package to our customers that answer many of the questions that will no doubt come up. The package will help you explain the process to buyers and sellers.

Don't lose sight of the fact that although this is a significant change for Hoosiers, over thirty other states have enacted some form of this type of law. Real estate transactions continue to take place in each of those states. I'm certain that it won't take long before wiring funds to the settlement agent will be just another routine aspect of the transaction.

Over the next few days I will be sharing my thoughts on likely scenarios. Please check back regularly.

Ask the Title Guy - How do I make sure that my closing is wired? Part 2

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:19:29 -0500

Beginning July 1, 2009 the logistics surrounding many Indiana real estate closings will become even more complicated. House Enrolled Act 1374 effectively requires that most funds received by a title company or settlement agent for a closing be wire transferred. Cashier's and certified checks will only be acceptable for amounts under $10,000. The Indiana Department of Insurance is the responsible agency for monitoring compliance with the law. Title agents that ignore this law risk licensing actions by the DOI.

The biggest concern my clients express is that complying with the new law will result in even more delayed closings. There are a lot of reasons why closings get delayed. Right now the most common reason is that the lender is unable to meet the scheduled closing date. Lately, about twenty-five percent of our closings are being rescheduled at the last minute due to loan approval issues. Until we have the lender's closing instructions and their approval of the HUD-1, we are unable to provide a firm figure to the buyers. And without a firm figure, the buyer of course, cannot initiate a wire transfer of funds.

Here's a suggestion for avoiding a wire transfer induced delay. It won't work in all situations, but you may find it helpful.

If there are two or more buyers they can each provide a cashier's check and avoid the wire transfer requirement if each of their respective shares of the funds needed for closing is less than $10,000. For example, if two buyers need $16,000 to close, each one can provide a cashier's check for $8,000. (I don't even think that it needs to be separate checks.)

Be sure to check with your title company or settlement agent and make sure that this suggestion is acceptable to them.

If the buyers each need more than $10,000 to close I strongly suggest that they wait to initiate their wire transfer until the exact amount is known. The law makes no provisions for providing some of the funds as wire transfers and some funds as cashier's or certified checks if more than $10,000 per party is needed. In my opinion requiring buyers to make two wire transfers is worse than waiting until you have an exact number.

My next post will address how what time you schedule your closings for will help or hurt your chances for an on time closing

Monroe County Property Tax Update - Bills In the Mail

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:55:36 -0500

Here's an update on the situation with real estate taxes based upon actual knowledge and an informal telephone survey made yesterday.

The Monroe Country Treasurer mailed property tax bills Friday May 29^th. We are now using the 2008 pay in 2009 real estate tax amounts for all payments and prorations. The first installment of Monroe County taxes is due Friday June 26^th.

Greene County property tax bills are mailed and the first installment is also due June 26^th.

Owen County property tax bills were mailed in April and their due date was the statutory May 10^th. Congratulations to Owen County-one of the few to be on time. Payments made after May 10th are subject to a ten percent penalty.

Lawrence County is awaiting approval of their tax rate. Once their rate is approved they will establish a due date for taxes. Until their rate is approved, we will continue to use 2007 pay 2008 tax amounts for all prorations.

Orange County is in the same situation as Lawrence County.

Brown County is still a year behind and holding.

I will continue to post updates as more information becomes available.

Coming Soon - Monroe County Property Taxes Bills

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:09:45 -0500

The amounts of Monroe County Property Taxes for the tax year 2008 payable in 2009 should be official this week. The county treasurer will mail the tax bills shortly thereafter and the first installment of property taxes will be due Friday June 26, 2009.

We currently have access to the uncertified tax amounts and are disclosing those amounts in our title commitments. Once the state certifies the amount we will be able to pay those taxes at closing and prorate the taxes for this year using these new amounts. (Last year an entire township's taxes were incorrectly certified and it did lead to some problems for a few closings.)

If both the buyers and sellers wish to prorate on the uncertified amounts, we're fine with that. We just need to have them sign our tax proration instructions reflecting that agreement.

I've reviewed a few files with uncertified taxes. It appears that there's little change from last year in the amount of the taxes on properties with valid homestead exemptions. I suspect that on other property types the news won't be quite so good.

Once the new taxes are certified, we will obtain the new amounts for all our files going back to early March that we holding tax escrows on. We then cut checks to pay the first installment of taxes. After we're certain the payments have been applied correctly, which might not be for six to eight weeks, we will return any balances remaining in the escrow to the owner.

Even though tax bills are again late this year, it's the earliest they've been out in quite a while. That's good news for buyers and sellers since taxes can be paid and prorated on current information.

Sorry, the check from your bank is no longer good (enough).

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Fri, 15 May 2009 09:41:07 -0500

Under a new Indiana law title companies will no longer be allowed to accept cashiers, corporate, or personal checks for their real estate closings after July 1, 2009. Mortgage lenders and many real estate buyers will need to wire transfer their funds to the title company or closing agent in most situations.

The law (House Bill 1374) requires that any party to a closing that must deposit more than $10,000 must wire transfer those funds into the closing agent's escrow account. Certified or cashier's checks or cash may accepted from any single party that needs to deposit less than $10,000. Corporate checks under $10,000 from Realtor's® trust accounts for earnest money will be acceptable in most situations.

I've been asked why such a law is necessary. One reason is that we live in a financial environment now where the previously unthinkable is happening all too often. Another reason is to ensure that funds from one closing are not used to cover checks written for another closing.

Title companies use the same bank account for many closings. If we accept a bad check--yes, lenders have gone out of business in the middle of our transactions--it may be a week or more before the bank knows and then notifies us. The reversal of the deposit may not result in a shortage in our checking account until days or weeks later because we are constantly making deposits from other closings. When the float disappears and if we don't immediately make up the shortage, checks from completely unrelated transactions will bounce. When checks from a closing bounce, the resulting carnage is not pretty. The law helps to protect all parties to the real estate closing from the effects of this happening.

The fact that cashier's checks are no longer considered good enough has more to do with bank rules about collected funds rather than the risk that a cashier's check will be dishonored. When you deposit a check in a bank--even a cashier's check--the bank will not let you draw against that deposit until the bank considers that the check is collected funds (meaning that in the bank's opinion the likelihood of the check bouncing is remote). Wire transfers are generally considered collected immediately upon receipt. Some banks treat cashier's checks as collected funds the next day; other banks take longer. Personal and corporate checks may not be treated as collected for more than a week. If the collected funds balance in an account is not sufficient to cover all the checks presented for payment that day, the bank may withhold clearing those checks or may even bounce them. Every bank has some leeway in determining when funds can be considered collected. Characteristics of the check, the check maker and the bank that it is drawn on are part of the usual criteria.

Lenders who currently fund their loans with wire transfers should like the new law. Your competitors who insisted on providing corporate checks, drafts and forms of positive pay, held a competitive advantage over you. Their costs of funds were lower since they didn't have to actually let go of the loan proceeds until their check was presented for payment several days after the closing.

The essence of the new law is that title companies are no longer allowed to disburse closings until they are certain that the specific funds associated with that closing are collected. Everyone should feel more comfortable about that.

There are some practical and logistical implications of the new law, especially with daisy chain closings. I'll be posting about them in the coming week so check back.

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Yes, I've been a little absent lately with blog posts. Business is crazy busy and so is my non-business life. But I've restructured my time and will be posting again on a regular basis. Thanks to all my friends who've been asking where I was. Well, I'm back.

Slowdown on the Road to Closing

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:12:29 -0500

My real estate closing and title insurance business remained challenging during the first quarter of 2009 but in a totally different way that the previous six months. Opened order counts were the best since the first three months of 2004.

The challenging part for us is not getting the preliminary title work finished-we're doing an excellent job with our turn times. Managing all those files waiting to close is getting tougher. While new orders are way up, the percentage of those orders closing is far less than at any time that I can remember. According to my clients, these orders aren't dead; the process to get to closing is just taking significantly longer due to a number of factors.

First and foremost, loan underwriting is taking a long time . . . a very long time. Reluctant to add staff when this flurry of activity started in December, many lenders now find themselves chasing their workloads, unable to get control of the ever increasing volume. Adding to the drag is that every loan underwriter feels they'll be seconded guessed on any deal that goes bad so they're being really cautious; more worried about not making bad loans than losing good ones.

Our market also has its share of valuation and appraisal issues but not nearly to the extent as in other areas. Generally housing values in Bloomington and Monroe County are not really going up much lately, but they're not going down much either. I've heard of some deals where the lender required a second appraisal. Condominium appraisals are very tough right now. Especially in developments with non-owner occupied units.

Even if the industry learns to deal with the volume and tighter loan standards, there's another change on the way that will further retard the settlement process. During the second half of the year, lenders and the settlement services industry will begin to implement new procedures in order to comply with changes to the federal Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA) that become mandatory January 1, 2010.

A new form Good Faith Estimate and a new three page form HUD-1 Settlement Statement are major components of the changes. The RESPA changes mandate considerable accountability for lenders with regard to borrower's settlement costs. The accountability will surely result in a training curve for everyone in the settlement services business. That learning curve is not going to make things happen faster. I'll be posting more about these significant RESPA changes over the next few months, so be sure to check back.

In the current environment realtors®, lenders, buyers and sellers are well advised to anticipate that closings will be delayed. To minimize that possibility, buyers need to provide their lender with all requested information as soon as possible. Realtors, instead of writing a purchase agreement with the usual end of month closing date, consider a day in the middle of the month and earlier in the week. There'll be less competition for the loan underwriter's time and less chance that your deal will be delayed.

Four common mistakes in Land Contract Sales

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:41:50 -0500

There's a right way and a wrong way to buy on Land Contract, a popular form of seller financing in the Midwest. Here are four mistakes that I see all too frequently in Land Contract sales.

Mistake No. 1: Not recording the Land Contract or a Memorandum of Land Contract in the public records. Recording gives notice to the world of the Buyer's legal rights to the property. Although being in physical possession of the property may provide the same notice, possession is a question of fact that must be decided by a court if the priority of the Buyer's interest is challenged. By recording the contract, this question of fact is removed. The Buyer's interest is there for all to see. A Buyer certainly would record their deed, wouldn't they? Record the Land Contract.

Mistake No. 2: Not having the Land Contract drafted by an experienced Real Estate Attorney. The money saved by using a generic store bought form of agreement is chicken feed if a dispute arises during the term of the contract. There are important legal considerations for both the Seller and the Buyer in an installment sale. The time to negotiate these is before any payments are made and received. Don't expect a $10.00 contract downloaded off the Internet to address all the possible legal issues that can arise in a Land Contract sale.

Mistake No. 3: Waiting until the Land Contract is paid before getting a title commitment. The time to review the title is when the Land Contract is entered into, not when it's paid off. A Buyer should know who else has rights in the property. Are these rights potentially adverse to the Buyer's interest, like a mortgage or other lien for example? How is the property restricted? Are there any easements that might affect the Buyer's intended use of the property? The time to answer these questions is before the Buyer starts making payments, not after they're finished.

Mistake No. 4: Not requesting an Owner's Title Policy at the time the Land Contract is signed. Often times we are asked to "hold the title commitment open" until the Land Contract is completed and a deed is recorded. This is a misinformed request usually related to someone (including even a few title companies) not understanding that a Land Contract transfers equitable title of the property to the Buyer. It's no big deal for the title company to adapt an Owner's Policy to insure the Buyer's Land Contract interest. If the policy is not issued, the title commitment expires, the title underwriter is not paid, and there is no title coverage protecting the Buyer's interest.

Entering into or accepting seller financing is a serious decision. Many factors must be weighed. In the end though, the Buyer is buying the property. Just as if the Buyer got a mortgage and the seller gave a deed. Avoid these mistakes. The expectations of your title company in a Land Contract sale are no different than in any other sale.

For additional information about Land Contracts, closings or title insurance send me an email or leave a comment.

Monroe County Homeowners Taking Advantage of Government Stimulus

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:59:20 -0500

Federal credit market stimulus is clearly evident when examining mortgage recordings in Monroe County in the first two months of 2009. What is also apparent are those parts of the market that are not benefiting from any government action.

The 729 total mortgages securing loans between $50,000 and $500,000 are the most in this dollar range in the first two months of any of the last seven years. Mortgages in this range tend to be overwhelmingly residential first mortgages. I believe that this increased activity is indicative of the fact that Monroe County homeowners are taking advantage of the lower interest rates resulting from various government actions that began in early December 2008. Judging from new order counts in my company, this trend is still continuing.

On the flip side, mortgages outside that range are down significantly. Mortgages under $50,000 fell 46 percent from year ago levels (195 then, 104 now). These mortgages historically have been primarily home equity credit lines or piggy back purchase seconds. This segment has steadily declined during the last two years. Dollar value of loans over $500,000 (primarily jumbo and commercial) declined over 60 percent from year ago levels (after factoring out one $40 million mortgage securing school bonds). Are the declines in these two market segments reflective of tighter credit standards for loans deemed more risky than high equity first mortgages? I think so.

Monroe County benefits from the lowest unemployment rate in Indiana. The community's primary employers are Indiana University, the health care industry and medical supply industry. All three are not immediately affected by the state of the national economy.

The market is not flooded with vacant foreclosed homes and good values exist in all price ranges. Property values in Monroe County are also faring better than most other places. The worst that can be said in this regard is that values are not current increasing. The Office of Federal Housing Oversight ranks Bloomington for 2008 as the 72^nd best market out of 292 nationally with an appreciation rate of 0.64 percent during last year.

Next month I'll look at the first quarter numbers for a variety of measurements including recorded deeds and foreclosures. If you'd like to be added to our mailing list and receive a complimentary copy of our monthly statistical package, please contact me or Tammy Walker through the link to our company home page.

How Do You Spell Relief? R - E - F - I

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:32:35 -0500

Tuesday I attend a presentation by representatives of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie) in which they discussed their new Relief Refi program. This is program is a big step in the right direction that will help the many families that are living responsibly within their means and making their mortgage payments.

I've posted here before lamenting the fact that many mortgage borrowers are prevented from taking advantage of the current low interest rates because they no longer qualify for the same loan someone made them two or three years ago. In the brave new world of tightened loan underwriting guidelines their credit scores are no longer good enough or their property value has declined to less than they owe on their mortgage. The Relief Refi program will help in many of these situations.

The program is based upon the common sense principal that if people are making their payments at 6 ½ percent interest they probably will make them at 5 or 5 ½ percent interest as well. In most instances, the lender will not need to re-underwrite the loan. One of the few requirements of the program is that during the previous twelve months, the borrower must be current on all their mortgage payments.

The property value issue is addressed by Freddie's willingness to accept the loan up to 105% of the valuation indicated by their automated appraisal tool. Closing costs and pre-paids may be added on top of the loan up to $2500. Cash-out refinances are not part of this program and all subordinate liens must be re-subordinated.

The program is Freddie Mac's contribution to President Obama's Making Home Affordable plan announced a couple of weeks ago. It is for any loan that is owned by Freddie and is serviced (who the payments are made to) by the lender who sold it to Freddie. You can read the full press release here.

Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie) also announced two programs of their own. One for existing lenders and one for lenders working to refinance loans made originally through another lender. George Suoto summarized their programs quite well here. Fannie's 18 page announcement can be found here.

Fannie and Freddie both require that eligible loans be closed on or before June 10, 2009 (see correction below) I encourage homeowners to contact their mortgage company to see if their loan qualifies.

By the way, Claire mentioned to me that you'll want to be at the front of this line. If these programs are as popular as we think they will be, the entire system is going to be swamped by the deadline.

Because Freddie and Fannie are now essentially owned by the federal government, the Relief Refi program is in actuality the way for us average Joes to get a piece of the stimulus package. So be patriotic. Do your part to help the economy recover. Take advantage of the Relief Refi and then go out and spend your monthly savings. Seriously. We'll all benefit in the end.

Correction March 14, 2009. I'm having one of those moments wondering what the heck I was looking at and I'm feeling kind of stupid. The sunset dates on these programs are June 10, 2010 - not 2009. I apologize for the misinformation. So I'm certain that there's enough time and capacity in the system to accommodate most borrowers. At least I can take comfort that anyone acting on my misinformation will only save money sooner, than later.

The Crisis of Credit Video Explanation

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:07:29 -0600

The mortgage mess is difficult to explain. There are lots of axes to grind. Many seeking to place blame. Many looking to absolve themselves of blame. No wonder it's hard to really understand what actually happened. The embed video here is the work of Jonathan Jarvis. Jonathan is a graduate student, not in finance, but in Media Design. He attends the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

It's most interesting to me that this video, the best explanation of market cause and effect that I've seen, is not the product of one of the many talking heads on CNN or CNBC or the Wall Street Journal or any well known financial media publication. It's the product of someone studying how to use new media to explain complex concepts. Jonathan, how Marshall McLuhan of you.

Jonathan gave me permission to pass this on in this post. He also asked that I mention the fine work done by John Levoff with the narration and Brandon Au who did the music. Thanks also to my friend Dave Wirshing who brought this to my attention over the weekend with a post on Twitter.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

While looking at the video a second time, I remembered Alan Greenspan's famous "irrational exuberance" comment that preceded the dot com bust. The dot com bust pales in light of the current situation. So Alan maybe had it right after all - just wrong about the timing!

Jonathan took down the original web site to which he'd posted this video. It appears that it received so much traffic that Jonathon incurred several thousand dollars of expenses. Not easily assimilated into a graduate student's budget. You can show support for this excellent material by buying a t-shirt here.

I will certainly be showing this video to many questioning clients. Maybe you will to.

I'm sorry. I don't see you on my calendar.

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:18:43 -0600

Last Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. sharp at John Bethell Title Company a nice couple walked into our Downtown office for their refinance closing. The same closing that was on our calendar for 9:00 a.m. - at our East office-- for next Monday.

Yikes!

Then began the questions. The phone calls. A few more questions. I sat in my office behind the front desk and continued working. All the while keeping an ear out listening to how our team handled this unexpected early morning surprise. I couldn't be more proud of them!

Jeanette, one of our Real Estate Closers, after a series of phone calls determined that although we'd been misinformed about the date, the loan package was ready to download and close. Jeanette and Kara, our downtown Closing Officer, apologized for the mix-up but did not point any fingers or assign blame. They offered solutions.

We could reschedule for another day. We could accommodate them later in the same day. Or, they could wait for 30 minutes or so while we tried to get their current mortgage payoff letter, complete their package and close the transaction. The couple chose to wait.

Jeanette printed the package, took the couple into a closing room and started going over the standard documents that did not need any preparation. At the same time Kara obtained the payoff of their existing loan (local lender fortunately) and worked up the closing statement. After a couple of back and forths with the lender's closing representative he approved the closing statement and the couple signed it. They left with smiles about an hour and a half after they'd arrived. Pretty good I thought under the circumstances.

The ability to successfully deal with the unexpected is an important consideration in selecting a title company. Lately many of our closings are last minute or after. It's just the way it is in the current financing environment.

We have seven licensed closers, four closing rooms in two locations. And while these Yikes! moments don't happen often, our folks know how to deal with them effectively. Don't assign blame. Offer solutions. Be flexible.

Introducing Claire Voyant - New Member of the Team!

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:50:48 -0600

Meet Claire Voyant, who just joined John Bethell Title Company, Inc. Claire, is now assisting our closing team in predicting the property tax amounts for our real estate closing tax payment escrows.

Every year at this time lenders begin requiring that we insure them that the spring tax payment is paid. May 10^th is the statutory date in Indiana when the first installment of property taxes is due but that amount isn't usually known until the end of April. To comply with the lender's instructions, we escrow enough money (hopefully) at the closing to pay the taxes after the bills come out. Deciding the amount of the escrow is tricky.

This year, rather than attempt these predictions myself, I decided that we needed the services of a professionally trained prognosticator. Claire comes to us after seven years with a local funeral home successfully predicting death. Claire is looking to expand her professional experience by predicting taxes. She turned down competing offers from the IRS and the Congressional Budget Office.

Claire will gaze into her crystal balls (which I got a great deal on at Sam's Club® but I had to buy a case of them) and advise our closers as to what the future property tax amounts will be.

This is a feat of prophesy worthy of Zoltar, himself, with whom Claire apprenticed early in her career. For you see (actually, Claire sees) there are many changes with Indiana Property Taxes this year.

First, as most Hoosiers know, this year for the first time statutory caps will limit that amount of property taxes that can be assessed. For owner occupied residential property the cap is one and one-half percent. Residential rental, the cap is two and one-half percent. For all other improved property the cap is three and one half percent. Depending upon where you live and what you use your property for, your taxes will go up or down as a result of the caps.

Second, the State of Indiana is eliminating the state replacement and homestead credits (not the homestead exemption-that's different) which in the past reduced local property tax levies. So eliminating these will cause property taxes to increase.

Third, the State of Indiana is assuming responsibility for much of the school funding that used to make up the largest portion of the property tax levy. This will reduce taxes.

Fourth, last year's $640 million state subsidy to local governments that reduced property taxes for homestead properties is only $140 million this year. This will cause taxes to increase.

And fifth, no one knows for sure what if anything the State Legislature is going to do the next few months to change any of this. There are dozens of bills introduced in the current session that would affect property taxes.

You can see that Claire's work is cut out for her. And according to a state official I heard Tuesday only about a dozen counties are expected to mail tax bills on time, so we'll be doing a lot of tax escrows. The escrows need to be sufficient to pay the taxes when they become known.

Please join me in welcoming Claire to our team. After the need for tax escrows passes, Claire will assume the additional responsibility of helping our employees decipher what I really meant to say when I said something totally different. Claire foresees a rewarding career with John Bethell Title Company, Inc. long after the need for tax escrows subsides.

If One Blog is a Great Start, then Two Blogs Are . . . Introducing Branding Chaos.

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:03:31 -0600

I'm addicted. Some of you are there with me. Getting up early. Staying up late. Writing. Posting. Thinking about writing. Thinking about posting. Praying for comments!

And I've done it again. I've started another blog; this time with my friend Chris Dickens. It's called Branding Chaos.

Branding, as in what many of us participating in social media are trying to do. Create a personal Brand. Create power in our Brand. Drive business to us because of our Brand.

Chaos, as in the scientific sense of the word. A system so large, interdependent and complex that predicting its behavior is impossible. That's how we see Social Media.

Branding Chaos is for Bloomington business. Chris and I hope to introduce Bloomington businesses to social media and discuss it in a friendly "Look what I just discovered!" manner. Chris, an IT professional, will also post about technical issues that sometimes complicate our social media experience. And when other Bloomington business owners take the plunge into social media, maybe Branding Chaos can be a forum for us to share what they're doing and for them to share what they're learning? We hope so.

Chris and I are not experts but we are certainly social media enthusiasts. We both feel that if we can help a few of our neighbors become active participants, it will enhance what we're trying to do in social media with our businesses. We're trying to help create our market. We're trying to get Bloomington past the "well, nobody else is doing this" stage. We're trying to accelerate the adoption of social media in our community.

I will continue posting to Opening Titles and Closing Remarks. This blog is an important part of my personal and company branding strategy. And I'm more excited than ever given the recent enhancements to the platform by Active Rain. I will repost here an occasional Branding Chaos offering appropriate to a real estate audience.

So if you get a chance, check out Branding Chaos. The link will always be over there on the right. I'd love to know what you think.

Ask the Title Guy! What’s this Commitment thing all about?

John Bethell (John Bethell Title Company, Inc.) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:55:41 -0600

After conducting thousands of closings I know that the title insurance commitment is the least understood and most ignored of all the residential real estate closing documents. Few buyers understand what a title commitment is for. They just know that they need it or that their lender requires it.

The title commitment (in some markets it's a prelim or a binder) is the operating manual for attaining legal ownership of the home that you're buying. It is a summary of the rights associated with the property. Here's how to use the title commitment to make sure that you get the property rights that you bargained for.

Prior to the closing, request the title insurance commitment and review it with your Realtor®, attorney or other representative.

Schedule A of the commitment lists the basics of the transaction. Verify that this information is correct and advise the title company of any concerns. Are your names spelled correctly? Does the insurance amount equal the purchase price? When there are multiple counter offers, sometimes the title company doesn't receive the last one.

Are the owners shown in the commitment the same people who signed the purchase agreement? Often when there are multiple owners, we find that not all of them signed the purchase agreement.

Does the property description in the commitment seem to match the one in the purchase agreement? Pay close attention to acreage amounts and question any inconsistencies. It may be that not all of the property or even the wrong property was searched.

Schedule B Section I of the commitment lists all of the documents and other requirements necessary for the title company to issue their policy to you. Besides the deed, new mortgage and affidavits, this is where you'll find a list of all of the seller's liens that must be paid off before you can receive clear title. Prior to the closing, make note of the face value of all the liens shown. If the total is close to or exceeds the purchase price it may be an indication that the seller is short.Consult with your Realtor®, attorney or other representative in these situations.

At the closing, examine the settlement statement to make sure that all the liens are being paid off. (In some locales, Privacy Practices prevent the buyers from seeing the seller's statement. Instead ask the title company to waive the seller's liens on your copy of the commitment or by a separate endorsement.)

Schedule B Section II of the commitment will show the details of the current real estate taxeswhich is usually the basis for any tax prorations on the closing statement. This section is also where any easements, restrictions and other property rights that will remain on the property after the closing are listed. Review these matters to ensure that you understand what you are purchasing. This is especially important if you are contemplating changing the use or altering improvements on the property. Restrictions may prohibit your plans or intended use.

Some title companies do not do a complete search of the public records for easements and restrictions. Instead they make their policies subject to "any and all recorded easements and restrictions." Follow this link to learn more about this consumer unfriendly practice that I dubbed "Title Insurance Lite."

In some markets the commitment may be organized differently than described here. All of the information will be there though. Keep looking until you find it.

Bring your title commitment to the closing. You can refer to it as needed to make certain that all the documents and tax prorations are correctly prepared. And if you don't understand something, ask for clarification. Most people only buy a few properties in their lifetime. Don't be embarrassed by what you don't understand. Mistakes are much easier to prevent before the closing than to correct after it.

Finally, compare your commitment to the final title policy when you receive it. The seller's liens should be gone. There should be nothing in Schedule B of the policy that you didn't agree to. Put your policy with your other valuable papers.

The commitment is the operating manual for obtaining your home's property rights. And as with anything complicated and unfamiliar, it pays to read and understand the manual.

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This is another in my ongoing series "Ask the Title Guy." If you're a realtor® or lender I hope these posts will prove helpful in explaining things to your clients. I will be tagging them as "Ask the Title Guy", so when you stop back, you'll know exactly where to look. And if you have a question you'd like me to address either leave a comment or email me directly.

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