Reading the Title Work Before You See the Property

Why reviewing title documents early, rather than late in the process, can reveal issues that a showing never will.

Most buyers see the title commitment near the end of a transaction, after they have already toured the property, made an offer, and started imagining their furniture in it. By then, walking away from something the title reveals is a much harder decision. There is a case for looking at title work earlier, especially with properties that have irregular boundaries, shared access, or a long ownership history.

A title commitment lists exceptions, which are the rights, restrictions, and interests that will not be insured unless resolved. These can include easements for utilities or access, mineral rights that were severed from the surface decades ago, or old liens that were never properly released. Most exceptions are routine. Some are not, and the only way to tell the difference is to read them carefully or have someone read them for you.

Mineral rights are a common surprise on rural properties. If the mineral estate was separated from the surface estate at some point in the past, the person who owns the minerals may have rights to access the surface to extract them, depending on the language in the original severance. This does not mean something bad will happen, but it is worth understanding before you buy, not after.

Easements deserve the same scrutiny. An easement described in title work as being for access or utilities sounds routine, but the actual language may allow more than you expect, or may be vague enough that its boundaries are unclear. If a recorded easement crosses through where you were planning to build a shop or plant a windbreak, you want to know that before it becomes a problem.

Getting a preliminary title report early, sometimes before you even schedule a showing, lets you walk the property with a list of things to verify rather than just a list of things to admire. It changes the kind of questions you ask while you are standing on the land, and it can save you from becoming attached to a property that has a complication you were not prepared to deal with.

Title work is not exciting reading. It is, however, one of the few documents that tells you what you are actually buying, as opposed to what the listing photos suggest.