Buyers & Sellers
An Employee Owned Company Serving All Maryland Counties on the Eastern Shore
An Employee Owned Company Serving All Maryland Counties on the Eastern Shore

Buyers & Sellers

WHAT IS TITLE

What is Title Insurance?

To transfer real estate properly, a title search must be performed, and, in most cases, the title must be found free of anything that could endanger your right of ownership. Title insurance protects against the possibility of future loss should your legal rights to your property be challenged.

There are two types of Title Insurance: A lender’s policy and an owner’s policy. The lender’s policy protects the lender’s interest in the property for the amount of the mortgage loan. An owner’s policy protects the home buyer for the purchase price of the property.
What Does an Owner’s Policy Cover?

An owner’s policy protects your interest in the property against such hidden hazards as:
  • Mistakes in the recording of legal documents
  • Forged deeds, releases or wills
  • Undisclosed or missing heirs
  • Deeds by persons of unsound mind
  • Deeds by minors
  • Deeds executed under an invalid or expired power of attorney
  • Liens for unpaid taxes
  • Fraud
For a one-time premium paid at closing, your title insurer assumes responsibility for all legal expenses to defend the title to your property if ever challenged. If the defense is unsuccessful, you are reimbursed for any reduction in the value of the land.
What is a Title Search?

A title search is an examination of all available public records on the property to verify the seller’s right to transfer ownership, and to discover any potential challenges to the seller’s ownership of the property. A title search will reveal unpaid taxes, unsatisfied mortgages, judgments against the seller, and restrictions limiting the use of the land. However, even the most diligent search may fail to reveal some hidden threats to the title, such as those mentioned above that Title Insurance protects against.
How Long Does Title Insurance Coverage Last?

A lender’s policy lasts until the mortgage is paid in full. An owner’s policy remains in force as long as you or your heirs have an interest in the property.

HOMEBUYERS CHECKLIST

Home Buyers Closing Checklist

Notify your Realtor and Venture Title Company as soon as possible, if any of the buyers will not be able to attend settlement. Most lenders require pre-approval when using a power of attorney.

Please complete the following several days before your settlement date:
  1. Arrange to transfer utilities at your property.
  2. Check with your lender to make certain no additional information is needed to process your paperwork.
  3. Call your Realtor to verify the day and time of your final walk-through.
  4. Transfer sufficient funds necessary in order to obtain the cashiers or certified funds required for your closing based on the amount of your Closing Estimate. Your lender should be able to get you final figures at least three business days prior to settlement.
  5. Obtain and deliver to your lender a Homeowner's Insurance Policy. The settlement cannot take place until the lender's insurance requirements are satisfied.
Please bring the following items with you to settlement:
Valid picture identification (for each person required to sign)
Certified funds or a wire transfer for the funds needed at settlement payable to "Venture Title Company, LLC"
Your personal checkbook to pay any difference between your Initial Loan Estimate and actual costs (limited to $500.00). If the amount of your certified check (or wire) is too high, we will refund any excess.

MOVING CHECKLIST

Venture Title Company hopes these moving tips will be helpful.
8 Weeks Before You Move
  • Get quotes from different moving companies. Talk to your Realtor, family and friends for recommendations, then chose one.
  • Sort through contents of closets, drawer and cupboards to weed out what you do not want or need, hold a yard sale or donate unwanted items to charity.
  • Get an appraisal on your expensive items so you can insure them for your move.
  • If you are being transferred by work, understand your company's moving policy.
  • Make a moving binder -- include an inventory of your household items with a video or photos.
6 Weeks Before You Move
  • If moving out of town, make travel arrangements.
  • Notify you children’s schools of the move and contact new school for enrollment information.
  • Obtain copies of school records, or have them sent to new school.
  • Obtain copies of medical records for each family member.
  • Ask doctors to recommend doctors in your new community.
  • Consult insurance agents to find out if changes to policies are necessary.
4 Weeks Before You Move
  • Check with you mover to confirm all the details of the move are set. If you are packing on your own, make the proper arrangements and get the right supplies.
  • Make the arrangements to connect and disconnect your cable, internet, electric and any other services you currently use and arranged for service at your new home. Dealing with this at an earlier date will prevent any date and time conflicts you may incur.
  • Get a head start on your packing by packing things that you won’t need before the move, like seasonal items such as summer sporting gear.
  • Arrange childcare and pet care for the day of your move.
  • Make a packing plan -- assign everyone a task and involve the kids.
  • Make an unpacking plan for the new home -- who does what and diagram where the furniture goes. The movers will not rearrange your furniture for you, so think this through.
  • You may have to switch banks because your current bank doesn’t have branches in your new town. Research the banks in the area you will be living in so that you can close and open new bank accounts as needed.
  • Check the requirements for a new driver’s license and complete auto registration at your new motor vehicle location.
  • Let service providers -- landscapers, cleaning services -- know you’re moving, and look for new ones in your new hometown.
  • Begin cleaning any rooms in your house that have been emptied, such as closets, basements or attics, and check to make sure you did not leave anything unpacked.
  • Moving Plants? Check on their special moving needs.
  • Make arrangements to clean your new home, and the home you’re moving out of.
  • Also, arrange for any services for your new home that will be easier to do before your things arrive: carpet-cleaning, wood floor cleaning, painting, etc.
  • Find pharmacies in your new town that you can transfer your family’s prescriptions over to. Make sure you have enough required medication in case you don’t locate a new pharmacist/doctor immediately.
  • Organize important documents -- will, passport, deeds, financial statements -- to carry with you when move; make copies that you can pack with your household goods, but carry the originals with you.
7 Days Before You Move
  • Collect valuable items such as jewelry or heirlooms and keep them separate from the rest of your packed belongings so you don’t risk losing them.
  • Return any borrowed items, such as library books, and collect any clothing that you may have taken to be dry-cleaned.
  • Pack any items you have not had a chance to pack yet. Your final week at home has the potential to be very stressful; don’t push things off until the last minute.
  • As you’re packing, be sure you’re labeling each box for where it goes in your new home -- if you don’t do this now, you might very well forget what’s in what box. Also, where applicable mark the boxes “Fragile,” “Do not load,” or “Load last.”
  • Call your mover and confirm your move date, and make any special arrangements for items like a piano.
  • Have cash on hand to tip the movers.
  • Discuss contingency plan for the movers running late. Where will you sleep?
  • Disconnect and disassemble your computer and peripherals. Back up your computer files on a disk or flash memory drive. You should plan to take these files with you in the car or whatever mode of transportation you will be using to get to your new home. Exposure to extreme temperatures can damage your software and files.
  • Dispose of paint, oil, and weed killers. Drain fuel out of mowers. Discard propane tanks from grills
  • Make sure all scheduled deliveries (newspaper, etc.) have been canceled or redirected to your new home.
  • Write directions to your new home for the moving company, confirm delivery date and give the company your itinerary and cell phone number.
  • Complete change of address forms a the post office, and send notices to magazine subscriptions, creditors, friends and family, alumni organizations, credit cards, banks and any other necessary companies and organizations.
  • Notify your employers, old and new, of your new contact information.
  • Clean rugs and have them packed for moving.
  • Pack suitcases you plan to move yourself with clothes, toiletries, jewelry and important financial records and documents.
  • Empty, clean and defrost your refrigerator/freezer and use baking soda to rid it of any foul odors.
  • Notify the police in your town if your home will be uninhabited for a long period of time.
  • Before you move, mow your lawn one last time, especially if your home will not be unoccupied immediately after your departure.
  • Make sure you know what to do with final trash.
On Moving Day
  • Put together a moving day survival kit with items you will need for the trip and immediately when you arrive at your new home. These items include toilet paper, snacks, bottled water, dishes, toiletries, towels, a few days’ worth of clothes. Be sure to plan for the contingency that your household items may arrive a day or even a few days late if you are doing a long distance move.
  • Double check any arrangements you might have made to transport your pet. Do you have proper travel gear?
  • Sign the bill of lading (ensure that the address and phone number are correct) and inventory list. Put your copy in your moving binder
  • Make sure you have the moving companies contact information with you in your moving binder.
  • If you don’t have professional cleaners coming in, make sure you clean your home before leaving.
  • Inspect basement, attic, garage, washer, dryer and dishwasher
  • Lock windows, turn off lights, close doors and take a final tour after the movers have finished, to make certain nothing is left behind.
  • In your new home, tape names to doors to assist movers; map out the floor layout so movers know what’s going where.
  • Do the walkthrough with your real estate agent. Make sure everything’s as it should be. Also ask for appliance manuals and such.
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