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Title Insurance and Other Things to Know About Buying Real Estate
I did not say things to know about buying a house, I said real estate and real estate is dirt, that stuff we walk on, the stuff we dig out to build a basement or pour a foundation on, the stuff the pool sits in, or we walk around, smiling and thinking to ourselves, “This is mine." This is mine, how do I know it's mine, how do I know that the person I just paid a lot of money to owned this place I call a home, how do I know how big the property is, how do I know that very important structure called a house, the building I have decided I want to live in, is on the land that I have bought? What is my guaranty?
It's the title insurance and specifically the owner's title insurance policy. You are buying the land as much as you are buying the house and the history of that land can be complicated. The ownership doesn't start when the house is built. Clear title starts with, “In the Beginning." As attorneys we do not have to go back to biblical times, but Georgia law requires us to search back a minimum of 50 years to determine that ownership is clear of claims that could be made against the property.
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