Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, hello Southeast Texas. I'm so glad you're joining us
on this show today. I have some excellent guests that
we are going to be talking about all things title work,
which I know that sounds boring, but boy, there is
so much information that you need to know, especially if
you are dealing with an estate or some sort of
(00:23):
activity that might make it a little more challenging. So
we're going to go through all of those and here's
some stories. Stories are always great. I love it whenever
Brenda tells me some of her stories on title issues.
So we're going to go through some of those, so
hopefully that helps you and you can avoid getting into
that situation. So we have Brenda Loftus with Capital Title
of Texas and she is going to be our go
(00:44):
to expert. Also is Katie Martin, who is the listing
agent for Dana Simmons real Estate. And Katie has seen
it all as well. So all of us combined have
more than seventy five almost eighty five years of experience
in the real estate market. So we have a few
stories to tell and some logistical challenges that we hope
(01:08):
you don't have to face. But before we get going,
i'd love for you to get to know each of them.
So Katie, we're going to start with you, Katie Martin
listing agent, who is our listing agent on Danisim's real estate. Katie,
tell us a little bit about you.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yes, So I was actually born and raised in Warren
down over there up north, I guess we could say.
And I have two beautiful girls, one sitting next to
me right now that y'all can't see, but she won't
get on the mic, and another teenager about to start driving,
so y'all be careful on the roads. And then I
(01:45):
have a wonderful husband, Robert, who is a part owner
in Ardie Martin Electric. We attend Legacy Christian Academy, so
plug for them. And yeah, in my spare time, I
do real estate in real estate.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yes, you're also very active in your church and you
play a huge part with the youth. So you have
a heart for young people in Southeast Sexes as well,
and you are constantly mentoring and and helping them. Talk
a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah, So we attend First Baptist Church. We help with
the youth group there, and we're going to camp in
a few weeks. And I don't know that that age
group is great for me. I feel like they're you know,
they're just young adults and they're just getting ready to
start their life and it's a it's a fun time.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, and it's a very important time too, building those
real relationships in that age range and building those firm
foundations of who they are, what they believe. So it's
a critical time in a lot of people's lives. So
I'm so grateful for people like you who are willing
to pour into our youth. We see in our world
(02:58):
today it's a challenge and so making a difference in
the lives of our youth is so important. So thank
you for having men. That was a great sermon. It
is it's just so important. I mean, each of us
should play some part in doing that also with us.
Brenda loftis capital title of Texas and so, Brenda, you've
(03:21):
been in South East Sex's a long time as well,
So talk a little bit about yourself. I have.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I've been here thirty years. I've also been in the
title business for thirty years. I interviewed at a title
company in Missus. Carolyn Maguire hired me on the spot.
I didn't get to go home that day. So wow,
that was my beginning of all of this. So she
is a great mentor.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Love her, love her, miss her greatly, and she was
a great mentor because no one did it as good
as Carolyn. No, they well you're you're coming really close though, Linda.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Yeah, I have three boys. I have a thirty five
year old, a twenty eight year old, and a fifteen
year old that's just about to drive. So again, watch
out on the streets in Lumberton. So I work at
the title company, and I work at the title company.
I do am involved in a book club. That's about
all I have time for other than working at a
(04:18):
title company and those boys.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
And I say, your boys in sports, I know you
do a lot of that.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Thomas is involved in football and baseball. Those are his
two things. So that keeps us pretty busy.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And in a prior life, you were in Hawaiian I was.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I lived in Hawaii for eight years, I believe. Before
I moved here, I was born and raised in Oregon.
That's where my mother and my brothers are and my
dad passed away in twenty fifteen. But I do go
home and visit. So what's where my heart is We're home.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So grateful that you came to South East Sex's and
that you are a part of this real estate family,
because let me tell you what any questions that I
have on title, I pick up the phone and called
Brenda and she has a wealth of knowledge and experience,
and we're going to talk a little bit about not
a little bit, a lot about that, because that's one
(05:10):
of the things that when you get into a real
estate transaction, you don't realize what are all the pieces
that go into it, and why do you need tidle
insurance and what are the things that you have to
research in order to get that. So in our next segment,
we're going to talk a little bit about that. But
before we do that, I wanted to just get a
(05:30):
pulse on the market from the two of you. So
in our last stats, we see that in our Southeast
Texas MLS, we closed just under three hundred and fifty transactions.
Average days on market was about one hundred and seven,
not too bad, you know, that's not a terrible average
days on market, and the average sold price was two
(05:53):
hundred and thirty thousand dollars. So we are seeing though
in the last month a little bit of an improvement
in what the market is doing. So for our team,
you know, we've sold real estate the last two years.
I mean the market continues to go. Even when it's
(06:14):
a little slower, We're still selling real estate. We're just
not selling it at the same pace we have and
the years before that. But I'll tell you what we're
seeing a little bit of a pickup right now. Last
week was crazy, Yes, and I don't know what happened.
Everybody got on board last year.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Yes, You've been sending lots of contrast.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
So I do feel like while there are houses still
on the market and there are some that are not selling,
we are seeing an increase of buyers into the market.
Just like you're saying, Katie, you're our listing agent, so
really the part that you play is with the sellers.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
That we have, right And what I've been seeing is
some of our homes that have been sitting on inventory
for a while, those are kind of the ones that
are finally cycling through, right. So it is it's encouraging
to us because and for our sellers because it's been
no movement for months and now there's I got multiple
offers on hous has been on the market for eight months, yeah,
(07:13):
just this last week. So we feel like things are improving.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, they're turning in the right direction. Yeah. So one
of the things though, that I think we have to
talk about is that while it has been a little
slower over the last two years, the market has softened
a little bit, and so sellers that are not willing
to price their houses properly are still going to see challenges.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Right. Well, that data that you just gave, the average
sales price has come down quite a bit, right, I mean,
if you're looking at percentage wise, we were in the
two seventies for our average sales price. Now this is
not just Beaumont, but this is all of Southeast Texas, right, So,
I mean we see that the market softening in the
sales price at least.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Right While houses are beginning to sell and things are
beginning to pick up, which is a great thing, it
doesn't mean that every seller is going to get multiple
offers over asking price.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
We're not setting those expectations right now, no. I mean,
I think, like you said, pricing is the most important
thing that a seller can do. I always tell my
customers we have two jobs in real estate. One is
pricing and that's the seller's job and one is marketing,
and that's our job. So if we're both doing our
jobs correctly, then the house should sell, even in a
(08:35):
software market or more depressed market as some people are saying.
But we're still turning over some inventory. So yeah, I
would say, just don't worry. It's just taken a little
bit longer.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
It is. And the thing that you and I love, Katie,
is we love data, and for us, the data doesn't lie.
If you are looking at the closed data of what
is selling and the active data of what is your competition.
That's critical in knowing how to price your property property properly.
(09:07):
Say that some times all the time, and for us,
that's what we want to offer our sellers, right And
just like you said, they're the boss, they get to choose,
but that's one of the things that you provide to them.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And one thing I do want to point out, because
I've had this situation, if you get a market analysis
from me, let's say, in January, and then, because I've
had the situation before, what they ended up meeting with
another agent in May and the market had already changed, right,
So the market analysis they got in May was quite
(09:40):
a bit higher than what I gave them in January,
because people have to realize you can only go back
six months in history. That's all an appraiser can use
for their data. So when we're looking at pricing every month,
it's going to be different. So I would say, just
you know, stay in touch and you know, assess it
as the market changes.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Yeah, exactly what I give you today is not going
to be what happens tomorrow. Or it may be tomorrow,
but it may not be next month. I mean, if
one house sells in your neighborhood and somebody paid cash
and over asking price and that pushes the market up,
it can change in one month because of one closed sale.
(10:21):
And so that's why it's critical not only that you
list it properly, but that you watch the market while
it's listed. So I know we've talked about how things
have improved on our side, but Brenda, what are you
seeing at the title company as far as the number
of files that you guys are opening.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
The last couple of months, the orders have been very high.
They've been quite a bit higher than in the past.
So I closed I believe in April about fifty eight
files just myself and I believe I had fifty last month,
and that's probably ten fifty teen more files than normal
in a month, so just for my little unit, Yeah,
(11:05):
I know that the other girls in the office as
well have been busier than their normal numbers. So it's
been pretty crazy. A few more terminations here, probably in
the last little bit than normal. But then they turn
around and get a great point. Yeah, yeah, but I
feel that I get new contracts on those same properties
fairly quickly so and sometimes it's the same buyer. Yeah,
(11:29):
they don't realize that maybe there's not anything out there
that's better, and then they turn around and come back. Ye,
that happens sometimes, But.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
That's a great point, because we have been seeing I
think a little more lack of commitment. I would call it.
People aren't as invested emotionally, maybe because of the amount
of inventory. So I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yeah. Yeah, so we are going under contract, but on
some there's a percentage of those that they're just terminating.
And for some I know it's been for no reason.
It's not that there was an issue with the inspection
or anything else. So when we come back, we are
going to visit a little bit about what does the
process look like, and then what is a title policy
(12:13):
and why do we need it? And then what are
some of the challenges that can arise when you get
a title policy or before you can close and have
a title policy. So don't go away. This is Dana Simmons.
We'll be right back. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons
and we are joined by Katie Martin. She is the
listing agent for Team Dana Simmons real Estate, and she
(12:36):
is sharing a little bit about the listing process and
what it takes to get your house under contract and
then what is the next process and that goes to
Brenda loftus with Capital Title of Texas. But we're going
to start with Katie, and so Katie, let's just give
a seller, give the people an idea of what does
it look like when you list your house with us,
(12:57):
and what is the process once you go under contract?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, well, I'm going to put it like it's an
easy thing. But generally speaking, most of our sellers, if
the home is occupied, we have a staging appointment where
we bring in a professional stager to give some ideas
and suggestions. Once they're ready for photography, we have a
professional photographer on staff with us, and depending on what
type of marketing we're doing, we'll arrange all that and
(13:23):
then after we get our photos back edited, we'll have
you an MLS within forty eight hours, and then the
fun process of making your beds and getting the dogs
out and all that stuff starts and we start showing
your property. So once we find the perfect buyer, we'll
go under contract and then we kind of start the
closing process, which then is kind of handed over to
(13:47):
me and my transaction coordinator, and we start the process
with the title company and getting all the inspections scheduled
and yeah, so on and so for yeah, and so
we just kind of take it step by step right
with the client as we get moving forward.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, exactly. And so once you submit that contract over
to the title company, that is when earnest money and
option fee are receded there, meaning it's delivered to the
title company. And then Brenda, let's talk about what does
that process look like for you.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
So you've received all of that, then what then it
goes to our order entry department who gets all of
the orders entered into our system and the process started to.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Get it in line to be examined by a title examiner.
There's a little bit of a weight period there, depending
on the county, depending on how busy we are. There's
certain times when people do get to take vacation, so
it tends to be a little longer then, but approximately
five to seven days for title. It is a little
difficult to do the little do. We sometimes get an
(14:52):
influx of the two week contracts, which becomes difficult with
the closing lock and all the safety features that Capital
Title has in place.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Now let's talk about red flags.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Let's talk about closing lot is, closing locklause.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
We use these terms because it's weak web what they
are correct. So explain to the consumer what is closing
lock and why do you use it and why is
it important.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Closing lock is a very secure system that Capital Title
uses to verify customer's identification to make sure we are
dealing with the correct people. They do in exuslexis search.
We really check to make sure we're dealing with the
people we're supposed to be. Also, the funds can be
sent securely through closing lock for earnest money and option fee,
(15:43):
so that makes it a little more convenient for the customer.
There's a small fee for that because it is a
third party and it's based on the amount of money
they send. Or they can download our wiring instructions from
closing Lock and go directly to their bank and wire funds.
Or they can bring us a check the different ways
that they can present that earnest money an option fee.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
So Brenda, yes, ma'am. Why do you have to verify
the people with the property.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Because we want to make sure the correct person is
selling that property. There's so much fraud and it may
happen more in larger areas, but we have to be
mindful of the fact that we have to check everybody.
It happens everywhere.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Listen, it happened to us. We had someone call wanting
to sell a piece of property. We were acted, I
mean all the things in it, we were in it.
We were in it that they said, the reason why
their name wasn't on the tax roll is because they
had just bought it and it had not been transferred yet.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Was this a vacant lot?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Because property, there's another process we put in place with
vacant lots. We have to mail a vacant lot letter
to the address's on the appraisal district, right becomes a
problem if that is not the correct address.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Yeah, we have to know that it's the right people.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
We've had many transactions come in that it hasn't been
the right person. They're usually very rush rush, we need
to hurry up and get this done. The agent never
sees them, but we usually we catch that at that
point that they have.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
To call us back, give us this code that we
give them on the letter.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So we have to make sure we're really dealing with
the person that owns the property.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
We're so grateful that we caught it before we got
through the process. We caught it before we went under contract.
But how challenging for the buyer if you don't. And
so our office also does due diligence to ensure that
the person that we're talking with is actually the owner
of the property. But it is crazy how much fraud
(17:44):
is going on out there. So while sometimes people get
frustrated with the process, like you're closing lot process, right,
but it is because there are people out there who
are trying to scam other people and they're not the
real owners, and they they make up great stories, right
they do. I mean, you hear it all and so
(18:04):
that closing lock process is critical to ensure that the
right person is the person who is supposed to be
selling that.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Correct and all of the information that we need from
the seller payoff information, they're social security numbers, they're where
they're going to live afterwards, the will they be.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
At closing or not.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
There's forms that we have to send out that they
have to complete on closing lock. Now there's often elderly
people or people are just not computer literate, and they're
welcome to come into our office. We can do the
ide verification in person. We can also let them fill
the form out in person. We don't want to email
that form, and we don't want to email the identification
(18:44):
because that's where the fraud happens.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
You never want to accept wiring instructions via straight email
and not Well, we won't send them that way, but
if you get them sent to you that way, you
should always call them verify. It's just that's where a
lot of fraud happens as well. People are scared of
wire fraud, but the only reason to be scared of
it is the way you accept the wiring instructions. Right,
if it's face to face then there's no issues there.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
So many many years ago before this all became really
latent and rampant, we had a situation where it was
an out of town title company and they didn't use
a system like what you're using. But it's been it's
been a long time ago, and so this was new.
(19:32):
And they sent our buyer wiring instructions. Well, lo and behold.
It was a little country title company by the way,
I won't mention names, and lo and behold, someone got
a hold of that emailed the buyer that said, hey,
our wiring instructions have changed. The email looked exactly, yeah,
(19:54):
like they did previous email. They sent the wire to
the wrong one and then for some reason a red
flag went off after that and they immediately called our office. Well,
I know some people in some places that could help
potentially in that situation. I was able to reach that
person and they intercepted the wire. But often there's not
(20:19):
time to intercede if they were lucky.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah, this family had seven children and every every penny
they had was in that wire, like everything from the hole,
their whole proceeds.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, and it was just crazy. It's it's a horrible thing.
And so while in this world we have to do
things that seem like why do I have to jump
through these hoops like closing lot because it is I mean,
it's not that hard, but it is another little step
you have to take. So I just wanted to clarify
that because sometimes I'll have clients call and say why
do I have to do this? And so I wanted
(20:51):
to be able to explain why. So after you've gone
through that and then the examiners have the file brenda,
what is next?
Speaker 3 (20:59):
We make sure the people that are actually entitle are
our sellers on the contract and go through any requirements
and schedules see payoffs judgments that because we do do
a name search judgment doesn't mean it was.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Attached to the property. We do a property.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Search, and we also do name searches on the buyers
people I mean it's the sellers. I'm sorry, yeah, And
so those would show up for that reason, we determine
whether those abstract to judgments are our sellers. We would
have the payoff information if they've done their closing lock information,
so we go ahead and.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Get the payoffs ordered. We work with the lender.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
If there's a survey prior survey we have to approve those,
get all the information to the lender once it's available,
and just work with them back and forth. We are
typically ready before the lender. Their process is a little
longer than ours if there's no issues. But sometimes there's
probates that are not completed yet. There's different Yeah, there
(21:55):
are different levels of that. There are different types of probates.
There's different Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
You know, well, in our next segment, that's exactly what
we're going to cover because I will tell you, Katie
and I have been dealing with quite a bit of that,
and I know you have been too well. So we're
going to talk through a little bit of what are
the challenges, How can you be prepared? What do you
need to know in that situation? So don't go away.
This is Dana Simmons. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons
(22:22):
and I have Katie Martin with Dana Simmons real Estate
with US and also Brenda Loftus with Capital Title of Texas,
and we are discussing all things title and when we're
going under contract on a property. It is very prudent
that you should get a title policy. If you're getting
a loan, it's going to be required. But even if
(22:44):
you're paying cash, it really is important that you do
that because so many things can be on that title
work that you have no idea about. So Katie, with that,
there are challenges that kind arise. And one of the
challenges I wanted to talk about today because we've seen
it a lot lately, is with an estate, someone is
(23:04):
passed and then there are heirs who are having to
work with getting the property sold. So let's talk a
little bit about first, who are the people that we
need to typically sign whenever we list a property that's
in an estate.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Yeah, so if we could kind of backtrack just a
little bit, because I think there's a misconception when someone
passes away that their spouse automatically gets everything. So that
is a huge conversation that I have to have and
sometimes I'm piecing it together as I'm there with them,
and they have no idea. Yeah, like no idea that
(23:46):
they the home surviving homeowner owns half and the estate
owns half. And so if the estate has not done
a will or some sort of deed over to the
surviving spouse, Well, let me preface this, I am not
an attorney and I'm not giving any legal advice.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Thank you. That's exactly right. But here's what we've experienced.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Right, and this is what we see most of the time.
If I call Brenda and I say, what's let me
tell you the situation, what needs to happen. So anyway,
back to my story, the surviving spouse has not been
deeded or willed any portion of that, then it goes
to their the past spouse's heirs and sometimes there are
(24:31):
ex husbands, there are children that people didn't know about.
There are all kinds of things. There may be a
black sheep in the family that is not going to
give up their portion of the money. Some of them
did it back to the surviving spouse. There are all
kinds of situations. So it's really something that Brenda and
(24:53):
Capital Title come up with a questionnaire that I usually
send my sellers first because I want to get ahead
of this, like it's not going to go away. As
mad as you are about the situation, it doesn't matter.
It's Texas law and that's it is the way it
is for the home to be ensurable with title insurance.
So I would say that's the most important thing. Number One,
(25:14):
get a will, even if it's on legal zoom or
something like that. At least let people know your wishes.
I always say, seeking attorney's advice regardless. But so that's
the biggest thing that I see most often is they
have no idea, they're blindsided by it, and then automatically
they're like, so I'm only get in half of my
(25:36):
proceeds of what I've invested my whole life with this home.
And the answer is yes, right, I mean, we have
to we have to figure out and get your children
on board. And some people don't even know where their
children are, right, So it's there's some crazy situations for sure.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah, So Brenda, let's talk a little bit about some
of the things that you've seen and how do you
remedy some of the challenges that come up.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
There are lots of challenges they we can if there's
not a will, there is an alternative called an affidavit
of airship that can be done. There's a large, long
information form that we get to the sellers, and it's
going to establish basically the life story of the deceased.
(26:26):
When she was born, where she was born, when she
was married, how many times she was married, how many
children she had, and that includes adoptions. You know that
that includes that's a step children that may have lived
in the home.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I mean, we need to know everything.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
We turn that into our curative department and they check
these things. We have many times found, you know, information
that was not provided. They check obituaries, they check, they
check everything possible that they can, and they find people
that weren't mentioned in the information for it.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
Quite often.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
That is a great point because I actually had where
a woman passed away. Her husband was selling the property.
He knew she had a child before they married, so
that child signed the affidavit of airship giving it to
(27:21):
the husband. But when it went to the title work,
it was discovered that she had a child when she
was very young, that she gave up for adoption, that
child who her rights were terminated as a parent because
she was given up for adoption, but that adopted child's
(27:45):
rights to her property was not terminated. I was shocked
by that. Whenever that came up and I was sent
so the title company, which was Capital Title, sent me
all kinds of information about the legal rights and all
of that. So so sometimes the husband was shocked. He
(28:05):
had no idea that that had happened. Many many years ago.
So that's part of what you guys have to do.
And that's part of things that the husband didn't know.
I didn't know to ask did she have any children
she gave up for adoption. That never even entered my mind.
So that's why I say, even doing the shop thirty years,
it's constantly learning and.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
We do as well. Yeah, we learn as well. There's
different situations, oh gosh, in many different transactions that you
wouldn't even have imagined that come up.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
We could write a book, but it would be.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
It would be a horror book. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
But another thing about the affidavit of airship capital title
likes for six months to have passed since the date
of death. The reason for that is they they have
there's about a four month window that of time that
can be that they can file claims against the estate,
like the funeral home doesn't get paid. We have made
(28:58):
exceptions if there's very little involved with it, but we
would require things like you've I think you've had a
situation like this, Katie, where we have to get copies
of paid paid receipts from the funeral home, statement, those
type of things to know that there's no because they
can come back and file that claim. So that's where
where a six month window kind of comes in that
(29:21):
things have settled down and there's likely not any debt
out there against the estate that could be filed, a
claim could be filed against.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
It, and we've had seen it where there's judgments come
up right against the person's past, right. You know, sometimes
they had a credit card that maybe husband didn't know,
a wild or something like that that just pops up at.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
The end, right, And so that's the reason for that
time frame. Can't be the day after. You know, there's
a lot going on at that point.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
It's so challenging because you know, death is already you know,
you're dealing with the death of either a spouse or
a parent or someone that you're trying to handle their estate.
But then to try to navigate all of this on
your own is very difficult. And so that's why I
will encourage people to have a real estate agent who
(30:13):
knows about all of these things, who's experienced. You know,
while all of us started new, those of us who
have been doing it a lot longer have a little
more experience to be able to help you navigate challenges
that we've seen and been through so that you don't
have to get to the end and it's blowing up
in your face. And so, just like Katie said, trying
(30:37):
to get ahead of it, get that information up front,
Try to as much as you can collect the data
needed so that it can be a smooth transaction once
you go in the market and go under contract.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
So the shokware off a little bit.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, yeah, Yeah, it's just and you know, to have
empathy and compassion for those that are in that situation.
It's just hard. And there's no more no one in
our office more empathetic than Katie Martin. She has the
most empathy of anyone I've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
So she and my daughter's looking at you, like, what
are you talking about? Thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Oh no, I've been around you a long time. I've
seen it a long time. So but so, anything else,
Brenda that would help someone get to a position of
having what they need other than what Katie said, just
preparing ahead, get with an attorney, gets yourself a will
so that it's directed to whom it needs to go.
(31:38):
Any challenges when you have that.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I mean, they definitely need to get with a real
estate attorney because I don't know really the timeframe. There's
different three different main types of estates, small estate. You
got the affidavit of airship that we can help with.
They can do small estate affidavits if it's under I
believe like seventy five thousand, and again, I'm not an attorney.
I'm not giving any legal advice. That is where a
obate attorney would come in to guide on what to do,
(32:03):
and that would be like a no will situation. And
then there's the other where there's one. There's wills that
I'm sorry, probates where there are disputes they have to
get the judges okay on every step of the way.
And then there's others where there's no disputes. You have
an executor and everything goes smooth. Depends on your attorney
how quickly they get court dates, holidays, quickly they work.
(32:26):
There's so many factors when a probate's being filed, how
it's being filed, what type are they doing, And we
don't know any of that until our title examiner looks
at everything, pulls copies, you know, copies of the probates,
reviews everything. It's hard to predict that in advance unless
the buyer really knows or excuse me, so that the
seller really knows about what they're doing and can get
(32:48):
the information to us.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
And a lot of times I try to push if
I think it's going to be a difficult situation, I
try to push the closing out at least two more
weeks to give more time because I'm I mean, Brenda
doesn't want me calling her every day asking her what's
going on, when I mean she'll know when she knows
and she's working it. And also Brenda's not the one.
(33:10):
When you talked about your curative team, there's a whole
there's probably four or five different departments. Every file goes through.
Right at the Bridle Company.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
We have a department that just does the curative review
of everything and they work with the underwriters and sometimes
we have to send it to our legal department. There's
different situations that go to different branches and they're handling
all of the orders and you know Texas that are
coming in and so it doesn't happen in five minutes either,
So there's a little bit of a waiting for different
(33:39):
you know, if we get documents that does have to
be reviewed, might take a day or two.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Sometimes they're wrong on the volume. Sometimes the wrong deeds
type of deed is filed right, which could be a
whole another show in and of itself.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Yes, yes, there's many different things that could happen many
and until that examination's done, we really can't guess exactly
how long it's going to take. I can say if
it says the estate of don't give us a two
week close time, it's.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
Likely not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Yeah, even if those in themselves with all the extra
layers with the security and closing lock and all that anyway,
but yeah, and getting everybody on board with that, it's
getting a little better.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Bit. The tip for the day is don't expect in
a state situation to go quickly correct and there are
lots of different fingers that it can have. So when
we come back, we're going to wrap up and give
you tips that you can do to ensure a smoother closing.
So don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
(34:39):
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons, and today I have
Katie Martin, listing agent for Dana Simmons real Estate, and
also Brenda loftis Capital Title of Texas. You what is
your official title there, I am an ESCRA officer, best
closer ever, closer ever. Yeah, that's our title for you,
but I didn't know what your official title. Wise. For us,
(35:01):
it's like if we if we're closing a file, if
the seller says you pick, then we will absolutely put
Brenda because for us, she's the best closer ever. And
why do we think that, Katie? Because she is? But
what makes her the best closer for us?
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Uh? Well, for me, it's her organization and her knowledge.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Yeah, an efficiency, and she was.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
One of she was one of seven people at my wedding.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
So yeah, well I wasn't there, but I know you
then I know, well, I absolutely agree. And one of
the reasons is because definitely of her knowledge, but also
because she returns calls and emails in a timely manner
and she doesn't make mistakes. Now, all of us, I
(35:52):
know make mistakes, but I don't know that I've ever
had one mistake with with Brenda.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
I'm certainly not perfect, but.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
No, but you do your very So we've been talking
about what do you need if you are selling an
estate and maybe you are the surviving spouse, but maybe not.
We're dealing with one right now that it's an administrator.
The administrator is someone who is completely outside of the family.
I think there are family challenges and so uh the
(36:22):
uh person who passed did get a will and named
an administrator who is a trusted person who they want
to handle that estate and of a disinterested, disinterested party.
So that's an option for people. So if if you
don't really trust any of your family, talk to an
(36:43):
attorney about who else you may could utilize as an administrator.
I mean, people do that.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
They do, they do, and those tend to be the
ones they believe that the judge approves every step of
the way. So you have the different steps and it
goes for the judge. They have to appree of it,
and there's a process with it all.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
There's no far less emotional involved, right involvements And.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Then the errors involved can't say that things weren't done
properly or that they weren't informed because I'm believed there.
Like I said, I'm not an attorney, but I'm sure
they all have to be informed along the way.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Yeah, so Katie, let's talk a little bit about if
you had to give someone advice. Okay, they're about to
list their family's estate on the market. What are the
things that you recommend that they have in place or
at least prepare for for a smoother transaction.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Yeah, so if there was a will involved, have that ready,
death certificates, some people do letters of testamentary letters testamentary. Really,
I just need copies of everything you have, because once
we go under contract, I immediately send that to Brenda.
We can't do title work necessarily before it it's under contract,
(38:00):
but at least we'll be prepared. A very hard conversation
I have with people is be prepared to talk to
your family about hard things, because it is not my
job to negotiate with your family. So sometimes that's the
hardest part. They're like, well, you just call my brother
and tell them blah blah blah. And I'm like, no,
it's a conversation you're going to have to have with
(38:22):
your family. Now. If there are four siblings and they're
all going to be signers on the contract, of course
I'm going to be involved with all of them. But
sometimes it's just when emotions are so high and you know,
there's grief and there's mourning and all that other stuff,
(38:42):
it's just hard. It's a hard situation and you have
to kind of mentally be prepared for it. Not everyone's
always on the same page as far as pricing or
who they want to live in the house. And I
don't know, there's all kinds of situations, but I would say,
have all the paperwork prepared, don't put it away in
a filing cabinet somewhere, just be ready until get to closing.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
So Brenda, talk a little bit about what are some
of the things that you're going to need in order
to ensure as best you can of smooth closing.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Well, as Katie said, that's very helpful to us to
have any documents that they can provide because we can
just upload that into our file and that may help
our examiners a little bit to do things a little quicker.
When they do have to pull probates, that takes us
a little bit of time, and so those are filed
in district clerk and so they have to request copies
and be able to view them. So we don't have
(39:38):
physical people that drive. We have a service that we
have to order them from. Our examiners work from home,
so they may not necessarily be in Beaumont, you know.
So some of the other things as far as the
estate what Katie was speaking about that we have challenges
with when it gets towards the end. Another thing about
being prepared, be prepared to know how much everybody is
(40:00):
going to get, because if Uncle Joe has paid all
the utilities and taxes and everything else, we can't take
just a stack of.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
All those bills and invoices.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
They have to figure all that out before it comes
to us and help us to establish who gets what,
just how to throw that in kind of to the
end of Katie's And then until we get the examination,
it's difficult to know what we need now. Another thing
that you could possibly add to your list, Katie on
the probate situation is was the probate filed in the
same county that the property's in. Because we run across that,
(40:31):
we get our title work, we find no probate.
Speaker 4 (40:34):
We get with the seller, Oh, well.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
That was filed in Harris County, and so that could
have been something they could have been looking at prior
to Yeah, so I mean that's just something that's happened
in the past. But until we get the the have
the probate reviewed and all that information, it's difficult for
us to say what needs to be done. A lot
of times it's not finished yet. Different requirements for different situations.
(40:58):
So I think what Katie's suggestion about having the additional
paperwork and giving us an idea of what has been
done as best they can is a little bit of
a push to help start.
Speaker 1 (41:09):
Yeah, well, I hope that you guys have enjoyed this conversation.
Let me just say there are hundreds of scenarios that
we have not they're covered, So hiring someone who is
professional and can guide you through that process as critical.
And I'd love for each of you to share your
(41:29):
contact information and if someone has questions and wants to
reach out to you, how would they do that? So, Katie,
how would someone connect with you?
Speaker 2 (41:37):
Yeah, just call me on my cell phone or text
me four nine six five six zero zero one three.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
And then Brenda, if someone had additional questions for you,
how would they reach it?
Speaker 3 (41:48):
You can reach me at Capital Title and that main
number is four zero nine eight six zero five two
zero zero.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
So in this real estate business, we see lots, we
see lots of things, and this is just one little
segment of our business that we know. There can be
challenges and we love to give you the information to
help guide you through that. I want to thank you
both for being here and for sharing your knowledge of
what you've seen over the years. And I also want
to thank Cora over there for coming and hanging out
(42:18):
with her mom for a.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Little while while summertime as while we did this radio show.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Well, thank you guys for joining us. I hope this
was helpful for you. We'll be back here next week
Saturday at noon, so come back and join us. This
is the Dana Simmons Show.
Well, hello Southeast Texas. I'm so glad you're joining us
on this show today. I have some excellent guests that
we are going to be talking about all things title work,
which I know that sounds boring, but boy, there is
so much information that you need to know, especially if
you are dealing with an estate or some sort of
(00:23):
activity that might make it a little more challenging. So
we're going to go through all of those and here's
some stories. Stories are always great. I love it whenever
Brenda tells me some of her stories on title issues.
So we're going to go through some of those, so
hopefully that helps you and you can avoid getting into
that situation. So we have Brenda Loftus with Capital Title
of Texas and she is going to be our go
(00:44):
to expert. Also is Katie Martin, who is the listing
agent for Dana Simmons real Estate. And Katie has seen
it all as well. So all of us combined have
more than seventy five almost eighty five years of experience
in the real estate market. So we have a few
stories to tell and some logistical challenges that we hope
(01:08):
you don't have to face. But before we get going,
i'd love for you to get to know each of them.
So Katie, we're going to start with you, Katie Martin
listing agent, who is our listing agent on Danisim's real estate. Katie,
tell us a little bit about you.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yes, So I was actually born and raised in Warren
down over there up north, I guess we could say.
And I have two beautiful girls, one sitting next to
me right now that y'all can't see, but she won't
get on the mic, and another teenager about to start driving,
so y'all be careful on the roads. And then I
(01:45):
have a wonderful husband, Robert, who is a part owner
in Ardie Martin Electric. We attend Legacy Christian Academy, so
plug for them. And yeah, in my spare time, I
do real estate in real estate.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yes, you're also very active in your church and you
play a huge part with the youth. So you have
a heart for young people in Southeast Sexes as well,
and you are constantly mentoring and and helping them. Talk
a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah, So we attend First Baptist Church. We help with
the youth group there, and we're going to camp in
a few weeks. And I don't know that that age
group is great for me. I feel like they're you know,
they're just young adults and they're just getting ready to
start their life and it's a it's a fun time.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, and it's a very important time too, building those
real relationships in that age range and building those firm
foundations of who they are, what they believe. So it's
a critical time in a lot of people's lives. So
I'm so grateful for people like you who are willing
to pour into our youth. We see in our world
(02:58):
today it's a challenge and so making a difference in
the lives of our youth is so important. So thank
you for having men. That was a great sermon. It
is it's just so important. I mean, each of us
should play some part in doing that also with us.
Brenda loftis capital title of Texas and so, Brenda, you've
(03:21):
been in South East Sex's a long time as well,
So talk a little bit about yourself. I have.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I've been here thirty years. I've also been in the
title business for thirty years. I interviewed at a title
company in Missus. Carolyn Maguire hired me on the spot.
I didn't get to go home that day. So wow,
that was my beginning of all of this. So she
is a great mentor.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Love her, love her, miss her greatly, and she was
a great mentor because no one did it as good
as Carolyn. No, they well you're you're coming really close though, Linda.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Yeah, I have three boys. I have a thirty five
year old, a twenty eight year old, and a fifteen
year old that's just about to drive. So again, watch
out on the streets in Lumberton. So I work at
the title company, and I work at the title company.
I do am involved in a book club. That's about
all I have time for other than working at a
(04:18):
title company and those boys.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
And I say, your boys in sports, I know you
do a lot of that.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Thomas is involved in football and baseball. Those are his
two things. So that keeps us pretty busy.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And in a prior life, you were in Hawaiian I was.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I lived in Hawaii for eight years, I believe. Before
I moved here, I was born and raised in Oregon.
That's where my mother and my brothers are and my
dad passed away in twenty fifteen. But I do go
home and visit. So what's where my heart is We're home.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So grateful that you came to South East Sex's and
that you are a part of this real estate family,
because let me tell you what any questions that I
have on title, I pick up the phone and called
Brenda and she has a wealth of knowledge and experience,
and we're going to talk a little bit about not
a little bit, a lot about that, because that's one
(05:10):
of the things that when you get into a real
estate transaction, you don't realize what are all the pieces
that go into it, and why do you need tidle
insurance and what are the things that you have to
research in order to get that. So in our next segment,
we're going to talk a little bit about that. But
before we do that, I wanted to just get a
(05:30):
pulse on the market from the two of you. So
in our last stats, we see that in our Southeast
Texas MLS, we closed just under three hundred and fifty transactions.
Average days on market was about one hundred and seven,
not too bad, you know, that's not a terrible average
days on market, and the average sold price was two
(05:53):
hundred and thirty thousand dollars. So we are seeing though
in the last month a little bit of an improvement
in what the market is doing. So for our team,
you know, we've sold real estate the last two years.
I mean the market continues to go. Even when it's
(06:14):
a little slower, We're still selling real estate. We're just
not selling it at the same pace we have and
the years before that. But I'll tell you what we're
seeing a little bit of a pickup right now. Last
week was crazy, Yes, and I don't know what happened.
Everybody got on board last year.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Yes, You've been sending lots of contrast.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
So I do feel like while there are houses still
on the market and there are some that are not selling,
we are seeing an increase of buyers into the market.
Just like you're saying, Katie, you're our listing agent, so
really the part that you play is with the sellers.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
That we have, right And what I've been seeing is
some of our homes that have been sitting on inventory
for a while, those are kind of the ones that
are finally cycling through, right. So it is it's encouraging
to us because and for our sellers because it's been
no movement for months and now there's I got multiple
offers on hous has been on the market for eight months, yeah,
(07:13):
just this last week. So we feel like things are improving.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, they're turning in the right direction. Yeah. So one
of the things though, that I think we have to
talk about is that while it has been a little
slower over the last two years, the market has softened
a little bit, and so sellers that are not willing
to price their houses properly are still going to see challenges.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Right. Well, that data that you just gave, the average
sales price has come down quite a bit, right, I mean,
if you're looking at percentage wise, we were in the
two seventies for our average sales price. Now this is
not just Beaumont, but this is all of Southeast Texas, right, So,
I mean we see that the market softening in the
sales price at least.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Right While houses are beginning to sell and things are
beginning to pick up, which is a great thing, it
doesn't mean that every seller is going to get multiple
offers over asking price.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
We're not setting those expectations right now, no. I mean,
I think, like you said, pricing is the most important
thing that a seller can do. I always tell my
customers we have two jobs in real estate. One is
pricing and that's the seller's job and one is marketing,
and that's our job. So if we're both doing our
jobs correctly, then the house should sell, even in a
(08:35):
software market or more depressed market as some people are saying.
But we're still turning over some inventory. So yeah, I
would say, just don't worry. It's just taken a little
bit longer.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
It is. And the thing that you and I love, Katie,
is we love data, and for us, the data doesn't lie.
If you are looking at the closed data of what
is selling and the active data of what is your competition.
That's critical in knowing how to price your property property properly.
(09:07):
Say that some times all the time, and for us,
that's what we want to offer our sellers, right And
just like you said, they're the boss, they get to choose,
but that's one of the things that you provide to them.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And one thing I do want to point out, because
I've had this situation, if you get a market analysis
from me, let's say, in January, and then, because I've
had the situation before, what they ended up meeting with
another agent in May and the market had already changed, right,
So the market analysis they got in May was quite
(09:40):
a bit higher than what I gave them in January,
because people have to realize you can only go back
six months in history. That's all an appraiser can use
for their data. So when we're looking at pricing every month,
it's going to be different. So I would say, just
you know, stay in touch and you know, assess it
as the market changes.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Yeah, exactly what I give you today is not going
to be what happens tomorrow. Or it may be tomorrow,
but it may not be next month. I mean, if
one house sells in your neighborhood and somebody paid cash
and over asking price and that pushes the market up,
it can change in one month because of one closed sale.
(10:21):
And so that's why it's critical not only that you
list it properly, but that you watch the market while
it's listed. So I know we've talked about how things
have improved on our side, but Brenda, what are you
seeing at the title company as far as the number
of files that you guys are opening.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
The last couple of months, the orders have been very high.
They've been quite a bit higher than in the past.
So I closed I believe in April about fifty eight
files just myself and I believe I had fifty last month,
and that's probably ten fifty teen more files than normal
in a month, so just for my little unit, Yeah,
(11:05):
I know that the other girls in the office as
well have been busier than their normal numbers. So it's
been pretty crazy. A few more terminations here, probably in
the last little bit than normal. But then they turn
around and get a great point. Yeah, yeah, but I
feel that I get new contracts on those same properties
fairly quickly so and sometimes it's the same buyer. Yeah,
(11:29):
they don't realize that maybe there's not anything out there
that's better, and then they turn around and come back. Ye,
that happens sometimes, But.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
That's a great point, because we have been seeing I
think a little more lack of commitment. I would call it.
People aren't as invested emotionally, maybe because of the amount
of inventory. So I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yeah. Yeah, so we are going under contract, but on
some there's a percentage of those that they're just terminating.
And for some I know it's been for no reason.
It's not that there was an issue with the inspection
or anything else. So when we come back, we are
going to visit a little bit about what does the
process look like, and then what is a title policy
(12:13):
and why do we need it? And then what are
some of the challenges that can arise when you get
a title policy or before you can close and have
a title policy. So don't go away. This is Dana Simmons.
We'll be right back. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons
and we are joined by Katie Martin. She is the
listing agent for Team Dana Simmons real Estate, and she
(12:36):
is sharing a little bit about the listing process and
what it takes to get your house under contract and
then what is the next process and that goes to
Brenda loftus with Capital Title of Texas. But we're going
to start with Katie, and so Katie, let's just give
a seller, give the people an idea of what does
it look like when you list your house with us,
(12:57):
and what is the process once you go under contract?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, well, I'm going to put it like it's an
easy thing. But generally speaking, most of our sellers, if
the home is occupied, we have a staging appointment where
we bring in a professional stager to give some ideas
and suggestions. Once they're ready for photography, we have a
professional photographer on staff with us, and depending on what
type of marketing we're doing, we'll arrange all that and
(13:23):
then after we get our photos back edited, we'll have
you an MLS within forty eight hours, and then the
fun process of making your beds and getting the dogs
out and all that stuff starts and we start showing
your property. So once we find the perfect buyer, we'll
go under contract and then we kind of start the
closing process, which then is kind of handed over to
(13:47):
me and my transaction coordinator, and we start the process
with the title company and getting all the inspections scheduled
and yeah, so on and so for yeah, and so
we just kind of take it step by step right
with the client as we get moving forward.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, exactly. And so once you submit that contract over
to the title company, that is when earnest money and
option fee are receded there, meaning it's delivered to the
title company. And then Brenda, let's talk about what does
that process look like for you.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
So you've received all of that, then what then it
goes to our order entry department who gets all of
the orders entered into our system and the process started to.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Get it in line to be examined by a title examiner.
There's a little bit of a weight period there, depending
on the county, depending on how busy we are. There's
certain times when people do get to take vacation, so
it tends to be a little longer then, but approximately
five to seven days for title. It is a little
difficult to do the little do. We sometimes get an
(14:52):
influx of the two week contracts, which becomes difficult with
the closing lock and all the safety features that Capital
Title has in place.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Now let's talk about red flags.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Let's talk about closing lot is, closing locklause.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
We use these terms because it's weak web what they
are correct. So explain to the consumer what is closing
lock and why do you use it and why is
it important.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Closing lock is a very secure system that Capital Title
uses to verify customer's identification to make sure we are
dealing with the correct people. They do in exuslexis search.
We really check to make sure we're dealing with the
people we're supposed to be. Also, the funds can be
sent securely through closing lock for earnest money and option fee,
(15:43):
so that makes it a little more convenient for the customer.
There's a small fee for that because it is a
third party and it's based on the amount of money
they send. Or they can download our wiring instructions from
closing Lock and go directly to their bank and wire funds.
Or they can bring us a check the different ways
that they can present that earnest money an option fee.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
So Brenda, yes, ma'am. Why do you have to verify
the people with the property.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Because we want to make sure the correct person is
selling that property. There's so much fraud and it may
happen more in larger areas, but we have to be
mindful of the fact that we have to check everybody.
It happens everywhere.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Listen, it happened to us. We had someone call wanting
to sell a piece of property. We were acted, I
mean all the things in it, we were in it.
We were in it that they said, the reason why
their name wasn't on the tax roll is because they
had just bought it and it had not been transferred yet.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Was this a vacant lot?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Because property, there's another process we put in place with
vacant lots. We have to mail a vacant lot letter
to the address's on the appraisal district, right becomes a
problem if that is not the correct address.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Yeah, we have to know that it's the right people.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
We've had many transactions come in that it hasn't been
the right person. They're usually very rush rush, we need
to hurry up and get this done. The agent never
sees them, but we usually we catch that at that
point that they have.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
To call us back, give us this code that we
give them on the letter.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So we have to make sure we're really dealing with
the person that owns the property.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
We're so grateful that we caught it before we got
through the process. We caught it before we went under contract.
But how challenging for the buyer if you don't. And
so our office also does due diligence to ensure that
the person that we're talking with is actually the owner
of the property. But it is crazy how much fraud
(17:44):
is going on out there. So while sometimes people get
frustrated with the process, like you're closing lot process, right,
but it is because there are people out there who
are trying to scam other people and they're not the
real owners, and they they make up great stories, right
they do. I mean, you hear it all and so
(18:04):
that closing lock process is critical to ensure that the
right person is the person who is supposed to be
selling that.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Correct and all of the information that we need from
the seller payoff information, they're social security numbers, they're where
they're going to live afterwards, the will they be.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
At closing or not.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
There's forms that we have to send out that they
have to complete on closing lock. Now there's often elderly
people or people are just not computer literate, and they're
welcome to come into our office. We can do the
ide verification in person. We can also let them fill
the form out in person. We don't want to email
that form, and we don't want to email the identification
(18:44):
because that's where the fraud happens.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
You never want to accept wiring instructions via straight email
and not Well, we won't send them that way, but
if you get them sent to you that way, you
should always call them verify. It's just that's where a
lot of fraud happens as well. People are scared of
wire fraud, but the only reason to be scared of
it is the way you accept the wiring instructions. Right,
if it's face to face then there's no issues there.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
So many many years ago before this all became really
latent and rampant, we had a situation where it was
an out of town title company and they didn't use
a system like what you're using. But it's been it's
been a long time ago, and so this was new.
(19:32):
And they sent our buyer wiring instructions. Well, lo and behold.
It was a little country title company by the way,
I won't mention names, and lo and behold, someone got
a hold of that emailed the buyer that said, hey,
our wiring instructions have changed. The email looked exactly, yeah,
(19:54):
like they did previous email. They sent the wire to
the wrong one and then for some reason a red
flag went off after that and they immediately called our office. Well,
I know some people in some places that could help
potentially in that situation. I was able to reach that
person and they intercepted the wire. But often there's not
(20:19):
time to intercede if they were lucky.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah, this family had seven children and every every penny
they had was in that wire, like everything from the hole,
their whole proceeds.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, and it was just crazy. It's it's a horrible thing.
And so while in this world we have to do
things that seem like why do I have to jump
through these hoops like closing lot because it is I mean,
it's not that hard, but it is another little step
you have to take. So I just wanted to clarify
that because sometimes I'll have clients call and say why
do I have to do this? And so I wanted
(20:51):
to be able to explain why. So after you've gone
through that and then the examiners have the file brenda,
what is next?
Speaker 3 (20:59):
We make sure the people that are actually entitle are
our sellers on the contract and go through any requirements
and schedules see payoffs judgments that because we do do
a name search judgment doesn't mean it was.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Attached to the property. We do a property.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Search, and we also do name searches on the buyers
people I mean it's the sellers. I'm sorry, yeah, And
so those would show up for that reason, we determine
whether those abstract to judgments are our sellers. We would
have the payoff information if they've done their closing lock information,
so we go ahead and.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Get the payoffs ordered. We work with the lender.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
If there's a survey prior survey we have to approve those,
get all the information to the lender once it's available,
and just work with them back and forth. We are
typically ready before the lender. Their process is a little
longer than ours if there's no issues. But sometimes there's
probates that are not completed yet. There's different Yeah, there
(21:55):
are different levels of that. There are different types of probates.
There's different Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
You know, well, in our next segment, that's exactly what
we're going to cover because I will tell you, Katie
and I have been dealing with quite a bit of that,
and I know you have been too well. So we're
going to talk through a little bit of what are
the challenges, How can you be prepared? What do you
need to know in that situation? So don't go away.
This is Dana Simmons. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons
(22:22):
and I have Katie Martin with Dana Simmons real Estate
with US and also Brenda Loftus with Capital Title of Texas,
and we are discussing all things title and when we're
going under contract on a property. It is very prudent
that you should get a title policy. If you're getting
a loan, it's going to be required. But even if
(22:44):
you're paying cash, it really is important that you do
that because so many things can be on that title
work that you have no idea about. So Katie, with that,
there are challenges that kind arise. And one of the
challenges I wanted to talk about today because we've seen
it a lot lately, is with an estate, someone is
(23:04):
passed and then there are heirs who are having to
work with getting the property sold. So let's talk a
little bit about first, who are the people that we
need to typically sign whenever we list a property that's
in an estate.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Yeah, so if we could kind of backtrack just a
little bit, because I think there's a misconception when someone
passes away that their spouse automatically gets everything. So that
is a huge conversation that I have to have and
sometimes I'm piecing it together as I'm there with them,
and they have no idea. Yeah, like no idea that
(23:46):
they the home surviving homeowner owns half and the estate
owns half. And so if the estate has not done
a will or some sort of deed over to the
surviving spouse, Well, let me preface this, I am not
an attorney and I'm not giving any legal advice.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Thank you. That's exactly right. But here's what we've experienced.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Right, and this is what we see most of the time.
If I call Brenda and I say, what's let me
tell you the situation, what needs to happen. So anyway,
back to my story, the surviving spouse has not been
deeded or willed any portion of that, then it goes
to their the past spouse's heirs and sometimes there are
(24:31):
ex husbands, there are children that people didn't know about.
There are all kinds of things. There may be a
black sheep in the family that is not going to
give up their portion of the money. Some of them
did it back to the surviving spouse. There are all
kinds of situations. So it's really something that Brenda and
(24:53):
Capital Title come up with a questionnaire that I usually
send my sellers first because I want to get ahead
of this, like it's not going to go away. As
mad as you are about the situation, it doesn't matter.
It's Texas law and that's it is the way it
is for the home to be ensurable with title insurance.
So I would say that's the most important thing. Number One,
(25:14):
get a will, even if it's on legal zoom or
something like that. At least let people know your wishes.
I always say, seeking attorney's advice regardless. But so that's
the biggest thing that I see most often is they
have no idea, they're blindsided by it, and then automatically
they're like, so I'm only get in half of my
(25:36):
proceeds of what I've invested my whole life with this home.
And the answer is yes, right, I mean, we have
to we have to figure out and get your children
on board. And some people don't even know where their
children are, right, So it's there's some crazy situations for sure.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah, So Brenda, let's talk a little bit about some
of the things that you've seen and how do you
remedy some of the challenges that come up.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
There are lots of challenges they we can if there's
not a will, there is an alternative called an affidavit
of airship that can be done. There's a large, long
information form that we get to the sellers, and it's
going to establish basically the life story of the deceased.
(26:26):
When she was born, where she was born, when she
was married, how many times she was married, how many
children she had, and that includes adoptions. You know that
that includes that's a step children that may have lived
in the home.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I mean, we need to know everything.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
We turn that into our curative department and they check
these things. We have many times found, you know, information
that was not provided. They check obituaries, they check, they
check everything possible that they can, and they find people
that weren't mentioned in the information for it.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
Quite often.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
That is a great point because I actually had where
a woman passed away. Her husband was selling the property.
He knew she had a child before they married, so
that child signed the affidavit of airship giving it to
(27:21):
the husband. But when it went to the title work,
it was discovered that she had a child when she
was very young, that she gave up for adoption, that
child who her rights were terminated as a parent because
she was given up for adoption, but that adopted child's
(27:45):
rights to her property was not terminated. I was shocked
by that. Whenever that came up and I was sent
so the title company, which was Capital Title, sent me
all kinds of information about the legal rights and all
of that. So so sometimes the husband was shocked. He
(28:05):
had no idea that that had happened. Many many years ago.
So that's part of what you guys have to do.
And that's part of things that the husband didn't know.
I didn't know to ask did she have any children
she gave up for adoption. That never even entered my mind.
So that's why I say, even doing the shop thirty years,
it's constantly learning and.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
We do as well. Yeah, we learn as well. There's
different situations, oh gosh, in many different transactions that you
wouldn't even have imagined that come up.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
We could write a book, but it would be.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
It would be a horror book. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
But another thing about the affidavit of airship capital title
likes for six months to have passed since the date
of death. The reason for that is they they have
there's about a four month window that of time that
can be that they can file claims against the estate,
like the funeral home doesn't get paid. We have made
(28:58):
exceptions if there's very little involved with it, but we
would require things like you've I think you've had a
situation like this, Katie, where we have to get copies
of paid paid receipts from the funeral home, statement, those
type of things to know that there's no because they
can come back and file that claim. So that's where
where a six month window kind of comes in that
(29:21):
things have settled down and there's likely not any debt
out there against the estate that could be filed, a
claim could be filed against.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
It, and we've had seen it where there's judgments come
up right against the person's past, right. You know, sometimes
they had a credit card that maybe husband didn't know,
a wild or something like that that just pops up at.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
The end, right, And so that's the reason for that
time frame. Can't be the day after. You know, there's
a lot going on at that point.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
It's so challenging because you know, death is already you know,
you're dealing with the death of either a spouse or
a parent or someone that you're trying to handle their estate.
But then to try to navigate all of this on
your own is very difficult. And so that's why I
will encourage people to have a real estate agent who
(30:13):
knows about all of these things, who's experienced. You know,
while all of us started new, those of us who
have been doing it a lot longer have a little
more experience to be able to help you navigate challenges
that we've seen and been through so that you don't
have to get to the end and it's blowing up
in your face. And so, just like Katie said, trying
(30:37):
to get ahead of it, get that information up front,
Try to as much as you can collect the data
needed so that it can be a smooth transaction once
you go in the market and go under contract.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
So the shokware off a little bit.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, yeah, Yeah, it's just and you know, to have
empathy and compassion for those that are in that situation.
It's just hard. And there's no more no one in
our office more empathetic than Katie Martin. She has the
most empathy of anyone I've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
So she and my daughter's looking at you, like, what
are you talking about? Thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Oh no, I've been around you a long time. I've
seen it a long time. So but so, anything else,
Brenda that would help someone get to a position of
having what they need other than what Katie said, just
preparing ahead, get with an attorney, gets yourself a will
so that it's directed to whom it needs to go.
(31:38):
Any challenges when you have that.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I mean, they definitely need to get with a real
estate attorney because I don't know really the timeframe. There's
different three different main types of estates, small estate. You
got the affidavit of airship that we can help with.
They can do small estate affidavits if it's under I
believe like seventy five thousand, and again, I'm not an attorney.
I'm not giving any legal advice. That is where a
obate attorney would come in to guide on what to do,
(32:03):
and that would be like a no will situation. And
then there's the other where there's one. There's wills that
I'm sorry, probates where there are disputes they have to
get the judges okay on every step of the way.
And then there's others where there's no disputes. You have
an executor and everything goes smooth. Depends on your attorney
how quickly they get court dates, holidays, quickly they work.
(32:26):
There's so many factors when a probate's being filed, how
it's being filed, what type are they doing, And we
don't know any of that until our title examiner looks
at everything, pulls copies, you know, copies of the probates,
reviews everything. It's hard to predict that in advance unless
the buyer really knows or excuse me, so that the
seller really knows about what they're doing and can get
(32:48):
the information to us.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
And a lot of times I try to push if
I think it's going to be a difficult situation, I
try to push the closing out at least two more
weeks to give more time because I'm I mean, Brenda
doesn't want me calling her every day asking her what's
going on, when I mean she'll know when she knows
and she's working it. And also Brenda's not the one.
(33:10):
When you talked about your curative team, there's a whole
there's probably four or five different departments. Every file goes through.
Right at the Bridle Company.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
We have a department that just does the curative review
of everything and they work with the underwriters and sometimes
we have to send it to our legal department. There's
different situations that go to different branches and they're handling
all of the orders and you know Texas that are
coming in and so it doesn't happen in five minutes either,
So there's a little bit of a waiting for different
(33:39):
you know, if we get documents that does have to
be reviewed, might take a day or two.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Sometimes they're wrong on the volume. Sometimes the wrong deeds
type of deed is filed right, which could be a
whole another show in and of itself.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Yes, yes, there's many different things that could happen many
and until that examination's done, we really can't guess exactly
how long it's going to take. I can say if
it says the estate of don't give us a two
week close time, it's.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
Likely not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Yeah, even if those in themselves with all the extra
layers with the security and closing lock and all that anyway,
but yeah, and getting everybody on board with that, it's
getting a little better.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Bit. The tip for the day is don't expect in
a state situation to go quickly correct and there are
lots of different fingers that it can have. So when
we come back, we're going to wrap up and give
you tips that you can do to ensure a smoother closing.
So don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
(34:39):
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons, and today I have
Katie Martin, listing agent for Dana Simmons real Estate, and
also Brenda loftis Capital Title of Texas. You what is
your official title there, I am an ESCRA officer, best
closer ever, closer ever. Yeah, that's our title for you,
but I didn't know what your official title. Wise. For us,
(35:01):
it's like if we if we're closing a file, if
the seller says you pick, then we will absolutely put
Brenda because for us, she's the best closer ever. And
why do we think that, Katie? Because she is? But
what makes her the best closer for us?
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Uh? Well, for me, it's her organization and her knowledge.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Yeah, an efficiency, and she was.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
One of she was one of seven people at my wedding.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
So yeah, well I wasn't there, but I know you
then I know, well, I absolutely agree. And one of
the reasons is because definitely of her knowledge, but also
because she returns calls and emails in a timely manner
and she doesn't make mistakes. Now, all of us, I
(35:52):
know make mistakes, but I don't know that I've ever
had one mistake with with Brenda.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
I'm certainly not perfect, but.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
No, but you do your very So we've been talking
about what do you need if you are selling an
estate and maybe you are the surviving spouse, but maybe not.
We're dealing with one right now that it's an administrator.
The administrator is someone who is completely outside of the family.
I think there are family challenges and so uh the
(36:22):
uh person who passed did get a will and named
an administrator who is a trusted person who they want
to handle that estate and of a disinterested, disinterested party.
So that's an option for people. So if if you
don't really trust any of your family, talk to an
(36:43):
attorney about who else you may could utilize as an administrator.
I mean, people do that.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
They do, they do, and those tend to be the
ones they believe that the judge approves every step of
the way. So you have the different steps and it
goes for the judge. They have to appree of it,
and there's a process with it all.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
There's no far less emotional involved, right involvements And.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Then the errors involved can't say that things weren't done
properly or that they weren't informed because I'm believed there.
Like I said, I'm not an attorney, but I'm sure
they all have to be informed along the way.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Yeah, so Katie, let's talk a little bit about if
you had to give someone advice. Okay, they're about to
list their family's estate on the market. What are the
things that you recommend that they have in place or
at least prepare for for a smoother transaction.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Yeah, so if there was a will involved, have that ready,
death certificates, some people do letters of testamentary letters testamentary. Really,
I just need copies of everything you have, because once
we go under contract, I immediately send that to Brenda.
We can't do title work necessarily before it it's under contract,
(38:00):
but at least we'll be prepared. A very hard conversation
I have with people is be prepared to talk to
your family about hard things, because it is not my
job to negotiate with your family. So sometimes that's the
hardest part. They're like, well, you just call my brother
and tell them blah blah blah. And I'm like, no,
it's a conversation you're going to have to have with
(38:22):
your family. Now. If there are four siblings and they're
all going to be signers on the contract, of course
I'm going to be involved with all of them. But
sometimes it's just when emotions are so high and you know,
there's grief and there's mourning and all that other stuff,
(38:42):
it's just hard. It's a hard situation and you have
to kind of mentally be prepared for it. Not everyone's
always on the same page as far as pricing or
who they want to live in the house. And I
don't know, there's all kinds of situations, but I would say,
have all the paperwork prepared, don't put it away in
a filing cabinet somewhere, just be ready until get to closing.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
So Brenda, talk a little bit about what are some
of the things that you're going to need in order
to ensure as best you can of smooth closing.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Well, as Katie said, that's very helpful to us to
have any documents that they can provide because we can
just upload that into our file and that may help
our examiners a little bit to do things a little quicker.
When they do have to pull probates, that takes us
a little bit of time, and so those are filed
in district clerk and so they have to request copies
and be able to view them. So we don't have
(39:38):
physical people that drive. We have a service that we
have to order them from. Our examiners work from home,
so they may not necessarily be in Beaumont, you know.
So some of the other things as far as the
estate what Katie was speaking about that we have challenges
with when it gets towards the end. Another thing about
being prepared, be prepared to know how much everybody is
(40:00):
going to get, because if Uncle Joe has paid all
the utilities and taxes and everything else, we can't take
just a stack of.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
All those bills and invoices.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
They have to figure all that out before it comes
to us and help us to establish who gets what,
just how to throw that in kind of to the
end of Katie's And then until we get the examination,
it's difficult to know what we need now. Another thing
that you could possibly add to your list, Katie on
the probate situation is was the probate filed in the
same county that the property's in. Because we run across that,
(40:31):
we get our title work, we find no probate.
Speaker 4 (40:34):
We get with the seller, Oh, well.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
That was filed in Harris County, and so that could
have been something they could have been looking at prior
to Yeah, so I mean that's just something that's happened
in the past. But until we get the the have
the probate reviewed and all that information, it's difficult for
us to say what needs to be done. A lot
of times it's not finished yet. Different requirements for different situations.
(40:58):
So I think what Katie's suggestion about having the additional
paperwork and giving us an idea of what has been
done as best they can is a little bit of
a push to help start.
Speaker 1 (41:09):
Yeah, well, I hope that you guys have enjoyed this conversation.
Let me just say there are hundreds of scenarios that
we have not they're covered, So hiring someone who is
professional and can guide you through that process as critical.
And I'd love for each of you to share your
(41:29):
contact information and if someone has questions and wants to
reach out to you, how would they do that? So, Katie,
how would someone connect with you?
Speaker 2 (41:37):
Yeah, just call me on my cell phone or text
me four nine six five six zero zero one three.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
And then Brenda, if someone had additional questions for you,
how would they reach it?
Speaker 3 (41:48):
You can reach me at Capital Title and that main
number is four zero nine eight six zero five two
zero zero.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
So in this real estate business, we see lots, we
see lots of things, and this is just one little
segment of our business that we know. There can be
challenges and we love to give you the information to
help guide you through that. I want to thank you
both for being here and for sharing your knowledge of
what you've seen over the years. And I also want
to thank Cora over there for coming and hanging out
(42:18):
with her mom for a.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Little while while summertime as while we did this radio show.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Well, thank you guys for joining us. I hope this
was helpful for you. We'll be back here next week
Saturday at noon, so come back and join us. This
is the Dana Simmons Show.
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Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.