We Want to Help You Make Your Real Estate Hopes and Dreams Come True!
As a full-service, attorney-owned real estate law firm/title company, we offer title insurance services, perform title searches, write or review contracts, review loan documents, coordinates the closings, and much, much more. Our entire team at Security Title & Escrow, Inc. will be dedicated to ensuring your real estate transaction goes smoothly from beginning to end so you do not feel stressed and do not have to deal with the minutia involved in a transaction.
Attorney Gracie Livingston has chosen her staff over a period of time, and she is proud to have chosen people that care about her clients as much as she does. The team prides themselves on being responsive to their clients’ needs.
Buying
In the process of buying a house or other property, you may encounter problems with the property’s title that were previously undisclosed or undiscovered. This could lead to claims against your ownership or right to the property; you could also be taking on the liability to other parties because of it. This is why we provide title insurance and we help coordinate the entire transaction from contract to closing.
Title insurance protects an owner of real property from acts that may affect the title to their property prior to their purchase of the real estate. It protects against claims on title due to fraudulent deeds, fraudulent satisfactions of mortgage, a judgment lien against a prior owner, unpaid real estate taxes, unpaid homeowner association liens, etc. It is unlike other kinds of insurance in that you only have to pay for this kind of insurance once.
If the seller is choosing the title company, we protect the buyer’s interests to be certain that they have the insurance coverage they are paying for. We ensure that all the appropriate searches are done so that the buyer has no claims against their title in the future and we make sure the buyer is not overcharged by the seller’s closing agent.
Why Choose Us? We know buying a home can be a very emotional time for you. That’s why we make it a point to hold our clients’ hands throughout the process—we want it to be as smooth and stress-free as possible for buyers (as well as sellers). We are all very responsive to our clients’ needs. The best part of our job is making sure that buyers who have found their dream home get what they want. Making sure that all problems are resolved and that we get to hand our clients their keys at the end is indeed a true accomplishment for our team. We believe our clients can feel that we care about making their dreams come true. That’s why to date, most of our business has come by word of mouth. Gracie Livingston has chosen an exemplary staff over time that cares about the clients just as much as she does.
Selling
Realtors love to tell sellers that they do not need a lawyer in a real estate transaction because the buyer’s title company can prepare their documents. That cannot be further from the truth. Sellers need their interests represented and need to trust that there is someone whose sole responsibility is to look out for their best interest. When we represent a seller, they can trust that they are being looked after from the pre-contract stage through to post closing.
Sellers should be represented to be sure that their unique interests in a transaction are protected, starting with whether or not the earnest money deposit is being held in escrow according to the contract. If a seller does not have a lawyer, the buyer’s title company will charge for the preparation of the seller’s documents. Sometimes those charges are as much or more than their own attorney would have charged them, and in the end, the title company does not protect the seller throughout the contract period. When we prepare documents on behalf of our seller client, they can be sure that there is nothing in those documents that would be prejudicial to them. Our clients can feel comfortable signing closing documents knowing they have been either prepared or reviewed with an eye toward their protection.
Refinancing
We work with the lender to keep costs down and make the process as smooth as possible. Furthermore, we have built relationships with local banks and mortgage brokers to assist our clients with their refinancing needs, especially those who have had difficulties obtaining a mortgage loan in the past.
As with any transaction that involves a mortgage loan, we review the loan documents with the borrower carefully to be certain there are no hidden charges or requirement that may be detrimental to the borrower in the future.
Closing
The fact that we are a title company that is attorney-owned and operated is important. We are not just a title company that cannot resolve the difficult issues that pop up during a real estate transaction. We can and do handle all of the difficult issues our clients may face. We will close at the convenience of the parties, even if that means travelling a little bit for us. If one of the parties will not be available for closing because they are in another state, we can provide a mobile notary to meet them at their convenience. What’s more is that in this age of identity theft and e-mail scams, the safeguarding of our clients’ private information is a very big concern. We have systems in place to be certain that our clients are well-protected.
One of the things that set us apart from other title companies and real estate lawyers is that we are very responsive and very tenacious. We have been told several times by clients who had difficult transactions that no one else would have stuck with it long enough to be able to complete the transaction. Not only that, but we build our relationship with you so that you or the people around you can come to us for any legal issues you may have surrounding real estate.
Moreover, most real estate contracts clearly determine which party is responsible for which “closing costs.” Our fees tend to be on the lower than most of those in the local market. We charge less with the hope that other parties to a transaction (i.e. realtor, mortgage brokers, etc.), will refer others to us—not only for the low charges but the excellent customer service.
Schedule a Free Consultation!
If you are considering buying, selling, refinancing, or closing on any type of real estate in the near future, or if you’ve already begun a transaction, please get in touch with us right away. We offer a free consultation for all new clients so we can go over your situation and explain how we will be able to help you through this exciting process. Contact us to schedule an appointment today.
