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Title Searches - Steve Levinson/FL
8/5/2004 2:20:21 PM (1723 views)
Re: Title Searches - Robert Franco/OH
8/5/2004 4:45:43 PM (2468 views)

I am probably not in the right frame of mind to answer this question at the moment, so let me give you the practical advise I normally would for this question - FIRST.  In my opinion you can NOT be self-taught to abstract.  There are too many things that you can only learn from someone more experienced willing to take the time to teach you.  The issue is further complicated by geography.  Each state and county has their own regulations that govern the real estate records - so a "canned" on-line course is only going to give you the "basics" and that is enought to get you into trouble.  It might be a good start, but you really need a skilled abstractor to teach you the rest.

Next... (my rant for the day) if I had it do over again, I would choose another career.  Everyone else I know gets a raise every year and they get promotions and more benefits.  I have been asked CONTINUALLY by clients to lower my prices (read my post below).  I take my car to a mechanic and they get around $70/hr., maybe I should have taken up a vocation like that.

It seems to me that there is something wrong when I incur HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in liability and get to charge a whopping $45.00!  People rely on our title work to process $100,000 mortgages several times a day and out of the several thousands of dollars that the borrower pays in closing fees, I only get $45 to $100.  My expenses are rising all the time; my E&O insurance is upto nearly $5,000 and I have never had a claim. 

I also think that the real estate records are becoming more and more messed up and it is taking longer to do the searches, but we don't charge on an hourly basis - we have to provide our services for a flat fee.  While the mechanic can say "Gee it took longer than we thought to fix your car, so the bill is a little higher" we just have to move on and accept what we can get.

To make things worse, our clients are now telling us what they are going to pay... many totally disregard the invoice and only pay a portion of our charges.  Often they fail to pay for copies (at $2.00/pg.) or the fax fee when they request something rushed and we have to fax from the courthouse (at $2.00 to $4.00/pg.).    I had a client call me and say that they were only charging thier client $50 and they couldn't pay our $100 fee for a statutory full search.  They got upset when I told them that I couldn't do the search for that.  What were they thinking?

There is something wrong with this industry when the client calls and tells you that they just bid out their work at 25% less to get a big client and they expect you to follow suit.  The problem is there is nobody below us to pass this along to.  I can't call the phone company, the electric company, the E&O company, the county where we charge our copies, etc. and tell them that my clients just lowered our fees so we need them to lower our costs 25%.  The fact is, our costs are constantly rising and our clients are trying to dictate that we work for less.

Sorry for the long rant, but I am disgusted with the direction things are going and it appauls me to hear "well we can get that search for $15 less from so-and-so."  I don't have a problem with competition, but the people who are undercutting our prices take shortcuts and don't do a thorough search, they don't have E&O insurance, they don't know what they are doing... AND MANY OF THE CLIENTS DON'T SEEM TO CARE.  It has become all about price and this is what is causing the degredation of the public real estate records.  They are the reason it is taking longer to do a thorough title search - we have to point out all of the title defects that the last idot caused.

If I knew how to do anything else, I would seriously consider a career change.

Best of luck,
Robert A. Franco
SOURCE OF TITLE

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Re: Title Searches - Steve/FL
8/5/2004 5:03:07 PM (2410 views)
Re: Title Searches - Robert Franco/OH
8/5/2004 5:32:39 PM (2396 views)
But, how do you REALLY feel, Robert? - Scott Perry/PA
8/5/2004 10:13:27 PM (2473 views)
Re: But, how do you REALLY feel, Robert? - Robert Franco/OH
8/6/2004 11:02:54 AM (2398 views)
Re: But, how do you REALLY feel, Robert? - Ellen Malloy/MO
8/6/2004 2:34:31 PM (2322 views)
Re: But, how do you REALLY feel, Robert? - Steve Levinson/FL
8/6/2004 4:14:10 PM (2301 views)
Re: But, how do you REALLY feel, Robert? - Slade Smith/OH
8/6/2004 5:24:21 PM (2335 views)
CERTIFICATION - Shannon Blatt/VA
8/7/2004 12:04:42 AM (2328 views)

Northeastern Title Services? - Sean/NH
8/5/2004 8:04:51 AM (1246 views)

NO PAYS - Patty Bolden/TX
8/5/2004 8:00:13 AM (1723 views)
Re: NO PAYS - Michael Solt/PA
8/5/2004 2:55:22 PM (2357 views)
Re: NO PAYS - Kunal Khanna/VA
8/13/2004 1:36:27 PM (2348 views)
Re: NO PAYS - Ronald Seal/NJ
8/16/2004 11:26:41 AM (2520 views)

Any ideas for business cards - Loretta Reed/MD
8/4/2004 10:30:41 PM (1561 views)
Re: Any ideas for business cards - David Bloys
8/5/2004 9:52:42 AM (2368 views)
Re: Any ideas for business cards - Amanda Packey/FL
8/6/2004 4:25:50 PM (2366 views)
Re: Any ideas for business cards - Brian Whiteford/MD
8/5/2004 10:03:02 AM (2419 views)
Re: Any ideas for business cards - Brian Whiteford/MD
8/6/2004 11:02:56 AM (2374 views)

Starting A Title Co...? - Mark Russomanno/NJ
8/4/2004 8:56:32 PM (1717 views)
Re: Starting A Title Co...? - Shannon Blatt/VA
8/4/2004 11:22:08 PM (2477 views)
Re: Starting A Title Co...? - Amy Holder/NJ
8/5/2004 2:28:19 PM (2409 views)




Questions and more questions... - Judy Nisonger/CA
8/4/2004 6:44:18 PM (1595 views)
Re: Questions and more questions... - Shannon Blatt/VA
8/7/2004 12:10:19 AM (2354 views)

Another request to lower fees - Robert Franco/OH
8/4/2004 11:09:33 AM (1831 views)
Re: Another request to lower fees - Barbara Bennett/IN
8/4/2004 4:47:09 PM (2583 views)
Re: Another request to lower fees - Douglas Gallant/OH
8/4/2004 4:52:19 PM (2589 views)
Because everyone lowers them - Kurt deVries/FL
8/5/2004 1:58:31 PM (2485 views)
Re: Because everyone lowers them - Amanda Packey/FL
8/6/2004 4:30:51 PM (2492 views)
Re: Another request to lower fees - Robert Breakell/CT
8/5/2004 6:28:40 PM (2506 views)
You wanna play, you gotta pay! - Scott Perry/PA
8/5/2004 9:58:28 PM (2463 views)
ENRON, ENRON, ENRON!!! - Georgette Cope/MT
8/6/2004 1:45:04 PM (2443 views)
Re: ENRON, ENRON, ENRON!!! - SHARON YAHRAES/ID
8/9/2004 7:40:40 PM (2485 views)

ONLINE COURSE - JOHN COTTON/TX
8/3/2004 5:51:05 PM (1658 views)
Re: ONLINE COURSE - Scott Perry/PA
8/3/2004 9:00:18 PM (2464 views)
Re: ONLINE COURSE - Shannon Blatt/VA
8/3/2004 10:26:14 PM (2435 views)
Re: ONLINE COURSE - Robert Franco/OH
8/3/2004 10:55:34 PM (2398 views)
Re: ONLINE COURSE - JOHN COTTON/TX
8/4/2004 3:19:11 PM (2444 views)
Re: ONLINE COURSE - Robert Franco/OH
8/4/2004 4:31:08 PM (2458 views)
Re: ONLINE COURSE - Judy Nisonger/CA
8/4/2004 6:40:00 PM (2391 views)

Docupen - John OConnor/IL
8/2/2004 6:00:46 PM (1704 views)
Re: Docupen - Robert Franco/OH
8/2/2004 6:19:32 PM (2487 views)
Re: Docupen - John OConnor/IL
8/3/2004 6:12:52 PM (2391 views)
Re: Docupen - Judy Nisonger/CA
8/4/2004 6:41:28 PM (2425 views)
Re: Docupen - Robert Franco/OH
8/5/2004 9:58:26 AM (2390 views)
Re: Docupen - Judy Nisonger/CA
8/5/2004 4:52:34 PM (2385 views)

Web page and E-mail - NALTEA/MO
8/2/2004 5:30:32 PM (1179 views)

As of 8/1/2004 Non-Payments clients - Angelica DelliCarpini/IN
8/1/2004 8:28:28 PM (1724 views)
Re: As of 8/1/2004 Non-Payments clients - NALTEA
8/3/2004 6:42:16 PM (2387 views)
Re: As of 8/1/2004 Non-Payments clients - Jay Duncan/MO
8/3/2004 11:24:53 PM (2404 views)
Re: As of 8/1/2004 Non-Payments clients - Kelli Gorman/TX
8/5/2004 12:09:47 PM (2294 views)

I hope this applies..... - Loretta Reed/MD
8/1/2004 7:47:02 PM (1637 views)
Re: I hope this applies..... - Jay Duncan
8/2/2004 10:06:30 AM (2470 views)
Re: I hope this applies..... - Whitney Lewis/FL
8/2/2004 3:23:19 PM (2367 views)
Re: I hope this applies..... - Loretta Reed/MD
8/2/2004 4:50:38 PM (2423 views)
Re: I hope this applies..... - Barbara Bennett/IN
8/2/2004 3:17:37 PM (2437 views)
Re: I hope this applies..... - monica froese/ME
8/2/2004 11:12:06 PM (2415 views)
Re: I hope this applies..... - Scott Perry/PA
8/3/2004 8:50:09 PM (2422 views)

Warning! - Judy Nisonger/CA
7/31/2004 12:12:34 AM (1710 views)
Re: Warning! - Shannon Blatt/VA
7/31/2004 9:31:12 AM (2474 views)

Advanced Technology Article - Shannon Blatt/VA
7/30/2004 6:40:31 PM (1315 views)

DRIVERS LICENSE, etc - Patty Bolden/Tx/TX
7/29/2004 3:46:45 PM (1701 views)
Re: DRIVERS LICENSE, etc - Robert Franco/OH
7/29/2004 4:12:54 PM (2507 views)
Re: DRIVERS LICENSE, etc - Patty Bolden/TX
7/29/2004 4:25:24 PM (2569 views)


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