Many people choose to retire to Southwest Florida for its beautiful beaches and senior-friendly amenities. Warm weather and less crowded shores than the state’s East Coast make Ft. Myers, Naples and Cape Coral attractive prospects for retirees looking to buy a dream home for their golden years. When buying a retirement home in Southwest Florida, one of the many things to consider is what type of title insurance to purchase to avoid any questions of ownership that could overshadow a happy retirement.
Title insurance protects the buyer and lender from any doubts as to the seller’s free and clear ownership of the property. Once title is cleared, there is no doubt that ownership can be legally transferred to the buyer.
Here are some of the issues that can challenge your ownership if a title services search isn’t made.
Most of the premium covers the cost of the search, but a portion of it go to protect you from losing your money if something comes up that wasn’t uncovered in the title search.
Before acquiring title services for your retirement home in Southwest Florida, it’s important to understand what’s covered in each type of policy.
There’s a one-time fee, unlike other insurance policies. It’s rare that the title company has to pay out a claim, since they spend a lot of time researching whether any skeletons will fall out of the closet after you purchase your home. It’s in the title company’s best interest to protect you and themselves from liens and other ownership disputes against any former owners.
Also unlike other insurance policies, your title services include an active role in protecting your interests. During the escrow phase of your purchase, the title insurance company searches through public records to ensure that no one else has a viable claim to your property. The title company scours through wills, deeds and trusts to trace the history of the home back as far as possible.
Protecting yourself with title insurance makes sense. It’s worthwhile to find out as much as you can about the history of your retirement home is Southwest Florida. Choose a title company with a proven track record in the area and with the appropriate experience in title searches and challenges. That way, you can get back to more important things, like margaritas on the beach and salsa lessons.