06.06.08
A Foggy Look into Future of the Title Plant
The future of a Title Plant is no longer in Title Insurance; it is in Real Estate Information (REI). Real Estate Information is a huge market, much bigger than title insurance. After all, real estate is our country’s biggest asset by far. Every day we see examples of farming REI - First American just signed a contract with the SBA to develop a way to farm information to quickly identify properties and owners in a flood, hurricane or other natural disaster. On June 4th, Prudential launched free property-valuation and property-profiles for consumers on its new web site where one can simply key in a residential address to get property data. However, besides the standard deed, mortgage and judgment information found in title plants, census information has been added on neighborhoods by zip code. This includes meaningful data that really tells you about a neighborhood: median age; percentage of homes rented vs. owned; average family size; average salary; average household income; home values; taxes; year built; amenities; density of housing; distance to colleges; average education of people in the zip code (% with hi-school, college or post grad); climate by month; and much, much more. Everything you want to know about that new house and you are considering.
By taking advantage of technology and implementing direct operations with vastly expanded and consistent data, underwriters can still produce title plants, but no longer just for title insurance, but rather to farm and package Real Estate Information for all sorts of needs. Finding new uses for the information and selling that information, title plants have become not a burden, but a piece of a serious REI revenue making machine. And, by replacing agent data with underwriter REI technology and owned branches, the insurers are building a long term solution both to off-setting the expense of the old title plant, and to the challenge of staffing, because fewer personnel can now be busy mufti-tasking. One minute producing title commitments and policies, the next minute putting out a report for a Credit collection agency of the judgments recently recorded that need to be collected. Underwriters can use REI to help control costs and to improve revenue. As I have said in the past – that is their job. They owe it to their stockholders to control costs and to make money.
REI companies make sense. Technology can and does do remarkable and wonderful things for us every day. So, if you are still running your title plant like you did 20 years ago – with books and paper; by going to the courthouse to get name searches and taxes; if you are still using microfilm; you better give it up –NOW. Think about what you have, or you may be putting yourself out of business.