Plain answers on what title insurance is, what it covers, what it costs, who pays for it, and why it matters on the biggest purchase most people ever make.
Before you buy, someone needs to confirm the seller actually owns what they’re selling — free and clear, with nothing attached that would follow the property over to you.
Why it matters: a defect on the title can limit what you’re allowed to do with your own property, or cost real money to resolve. We work the public record thoroughly so you know exactly what you’re taking on before you sign.
You pay for the policy once, at closing. No renewal, no expiration date. It covers you for as long as you — or your heirs — hold an interest in the property.
Selling? We’ll line up a closing attorney, chase down and satisfy any outstanding liens, and keep the file moving so nothing stalls at the table.
Listing it yourself or working with an agent — either way, we work the same.
Send us the contract and we’ll take it from there.
Title Insurance 101
When you finance a home, one line on your closing statement is title insurance. It’s a single premium, paid once, and the required policy protects your lender.
You can also buy an owner’s policy to protect yourself. That one is optional — and it’s the one worth understanding before you decide.
Title insurance covers third-party claims on a property — claims that didn’t surface in the original search and only turn up after closing. A third party is anyone other than you: a roofing contractor who never got paid by the previous owner, a county tax office, an heir nobody knew about. “Title” just means legal ownership.
A claim can appear at any point, including years into quiet ownership. Someone may hold rights to the property that nobody flagged when you made your offer — and often the seller didn’t know either. In the case of an overlooked heir, that person may not learn they have a claim until a lawyer tells them.
Before your loan closes, your lender orders a title search. A title company works the public record looking for anything that would affect the lender’s or the buyer’s rights:
A contractor, tax authority, or lender who wasn’t paid can attach a lien to the property. You do not want to inherit the last owner’s unpaid bills.
Someone else’s right to use land you own — a utility corridor across the back of the lot, a neighbor’s driveway. It can quietly limit what you’re allowed to build.
The broad category: liens and easements, plus zoning rules, HOA covenants, and any leasehold rights already running with the property.
The search pulls deeds, mortgages, court judgments, divorce decrees, tax records, and child support orders.
If it turns up a problem — the industry calls them “clouds” — we go to work clearing it. Sometimes that means your agent and the seller’s agent getting the seller to resolve it. Occasionally a problem is serious enough to end the deal, and it is far better to learn that now than after you have signed.
A policy covers underlying problems with a property’s title that were missed before you bought it. It earns its keep on the day a search turns out to have overlooked a lien or an ownership dispute.
A policy doesn’t shield you from every possible limit on your property rights — and it won’t cover problems you create yourself after closing:
The line is timing. Title insurance addresses issues that already existed and would have changed your decision to buy had you known about them. It doesn’t cover what happens next.
Expanded coverage reaches additional risks a standard policy leaves out. Which one fits depends on the property and the deal. Call and we’ll tell you straight whether it’s worth it for your purchase.
Cost & Coverage
An owner’s policy can pay off a lien that surfaced after closing, fund your defense when someone sues claiming rights to your property, or settle with you in cash if the deed you bought on turns out to be forged. It also protects your ability to sell later, when the next buyer’s search runs and finds the same problem.
The lender’s policy doesn’t protect you, though you’re the one paying for it — so it’s fair to ask what it’s actually for. If you lose the home because it was sold to you fraudulently, the lender files a claim to recover the payments it was counting on. Normally a lender would foreclose to recoup its losses, but if someone else holds rights to the property, foreclosure isn’t available to them either.
One premium, paid once at closing — not a recurring cost. The owner’s policy is priced off the purchase price, the lender’s off the loan amount. Together they typically run 0.5% to 1.0% of the purchase price, or roughly $1,500 to $3,000 on a $300,000 home, according to ALTA.
In both North and South Carolina, title insurance is filed at the same rate no matter which agency you use. The price is the price. What differs is who’s running the search, and whether their underwriters can clear a problem when one shows up. Run your numbers through the rate calculator.
Open Rate CalculatorThe buyer covers the lender’s policy as part of closing costs. The owner’s policy can be paid by either side — local custom usually decides, and it’s negotiable.
Buying both at the same time lowers the cost of the owner’s policy, through what the industry calls a simultaneous issue rate.
Call and ask. We’d rather spend fifteen minutes on the phone now than have you find out what a policy does and doesn’t cover once something has already gone wrong.