Caliban wrote:

When purchasing a house (assume it's a cash payment, with no mortgage):

What does a title company do for the money paid to it? Would a real estate
attorney paid to do a title search do the same thing?

It's possible the attorney could do it better, but it depends on the
quality of the work done by the title company. One of my sisters worked
for a real estate attorney who did a lot of work for supposedly
experienced real estate agents and title companies who screwed up their
paperwork and had to get it fixed.
As a result, everyone is our family has included a consult with a real
estate attorney in our real estate purchases. The cost of an experienced
attorney to check out the paperwork before closing (and if necessary, to
attend closing as well) isn't outrageous and for us was well worth the
additional peace of mind.

Are there ever fairly good reasons not to purchase title insurance? (Sarcasm
will be laughed at and then ignored. :-) )

I didn't bother when I purchased our family home from my mom, since
obviously I was fully aware there were no liens or impediments with the
title since the property had come into the family. But if I'd bought
property from anyone else, I'd've bought title insurance.

What are some steps to take to prevent a title company from ripping a buyer
off with extraneous, inappropriate fees? (I already plan to ask for a
complete breakdown of the title fees.) For what extraneous, inappropriate
fees should I keep my eyes peeled?

Everyone should call the County Records department for the county the
property is located in, and ask the clerks there for a listing of all
the paperwork to legally record the transaction. All the clerks I've
dealt with have been very knowledgeable and helpful. A lot of the
documents can be prepared by yourself with the (free) assistance of the
county clerks, then reviewed by your attorney. Or your attorney can
prepare the paperwork for you, but it'll cost more.

Once you know what is required for the transaction to take place, you
can compare that to the title company's list of fees and have them
explain anything that the county didn't tell you was required. You can
decide what documents, if any, you feel capable of preparing yourself,
and tell the title company you'll prepare those yourself. You can also
compare their overall fee to what your attorney would charge for doing
it for you.

I had the title company p.o.'d at me when I bought the house since I
only allowed them to process certain documents on behalf of the seller
(my mom) and insisted on handling the rest myself. They tried
retaliating by claiming I'd improperly prepared the paperwork. A quick
conference call between myself, the title company, the county clerk, and
my lawyer stopped that nonsense in its tracks and we closed with no
problems. Though they did then try telling me I'd have to pay the filing
fee, to which I replied that I was heading down to the County office
immediately after closing and handling the filing myself. I ended up
allowing them to do it after they waived the filing fee. They didn't
make a lot of money from our family sale.

I have been studying these subjects on the internet and have begun to query
a buyer's agent about them. But I find others' personal experiences are
always helpful.

I got a free initial consult with a real estate attorney before I even
initiated the home purchase. He gave me advice on how to handle it
myself and also advised me of his fees for handling the transaction on
my behalf. I ended up having him check over all the paperwork prior to
closing for $75.00. So I would encourage you to discuss your options not
only with a buyer's agent but with an experienced lawyer as well.

HellT