Ben Anton, Residential Real Estate Brokerage » The “Free” Market http://benanton.com Madison WI, Real Estate and Residential Rental. Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:34:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 The Title Company, a necessary evil? http://benanton.com/2011/01/the-title-company-a-necessary-evil/ http://benanton.com/2011/01/the-title-company-a-necessary-evil/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:12:07 +0000 benanton http://benanton.com/?p=520 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Maybe this only happens to me, but every once in a while people will get down on the title company, calling them vultures of the real estate industry with their nickel and dime fees, added costs and perceived bureaucracy. I had never called them all those names but they do sell title “Insurance”, which as Ned Flanders the devout Christian on “The Simpson’s” will tell you is a form of gambling. Title Insurance as we know it today replaced the previous practice of a lawyers review of a properties abstract. So let me tell you what I just did. At the advice of several folks in the insurance, tax and real estate industry I am transferring ownership of the two rental properties my wife and own to an LLC. Anton Homes LLC to be exact. The quit claim deed can be used in this circumstance. It allows and individual to transfer whatever right they have, limited or total, whatever they are to another party. As Sandy and I will transfer it to ourselves, we did not need a title search or insurance, just a deed with our signatures, and our signatures.

Simple, Right? Wrong, you forgot about the government and taxes. We will not be taxed on the transfer as we are married but are still required to file a transfer return. This tedious process can only be done on-line and was clearly not designed to be consumer friendly. It was ridiculous. I gave up 2/3rds of the way through and called Jeanie the title lady. It was that poorly designed difficult to work with. So while a title company does have all sorts of fees and costs and perceived layers of bureaucracy, they also specialize in dealing with and creating a buffer between the consumer and other agencies, governmental and/or financial that have even greater costs, fees, and countless layers of bureaucracy.

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]]> http://benanton.com/2011/01/the-title-company-a-necessary-evil/feed/ 0 Four Dollar Coffee http://benanton.com/2010/04/four-dollar-coffee/ http://benanton.com/2010/04/four-dollar-coffee/#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:44:28 +0000 benanton http://benanton.com/?p=414 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Coffee ImageI read articles all the time that link a spending habit or surge in one categories numbers to a different industry or market trend. Evidently the $4 coffee has seen a re-birth in the last few months. Starbucks and other purveyors of overpriced lattes are back in the black. Pundits, journalists and baristas alike feel this is a sign of our economy’s rebirth and we are on the mend.

The masses’ willingness to indulge, treat themselves, pay more for less, spend outside their means, and exercise a  “we’ve worked hard to get through these “trying times” mentality all point to consumer confidence and the light at the end of the tunnel.

I  though might take a moment and ask of you this: Is not the four dollar coffee and all it stands for exactly what got us in trouble the first place?

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