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By Misty Darling

Professional service with an emphasis on guidance, planning, and dedication to my clients’ needs are my top priority.

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In today’s video, we’re casting our business spotlight on Title Services of Des Moines. Title is a critical aspect of the real estate process, so my interview with Matthew White, Director of Marketing, was really informative. He answered a few questions about his business, some key words related to his field, and how Title Services can protect homebuyers.

What is Title Services of Des Moines?

Title Services is a team of 17 professionals, all of whom contribute to the title process. Some are searchers, some help prepare the documents, some pick up abstracts from realty offices, and so on.

Matthew himself is an attorney who has always worked with real estate law. When he graduated law school from Drake University back in 1993, he immediately started working at Iowa Title Guarantee, where he spent 21 years.

“As a home purchaser, you can protect yourself by going through the Iowa Title Guarantee program.”

What is an abstract, and what is a deed?

An abstract is just a summary of all the matters that would affect a piece of real estate, including liens, second mortgages, and estates. Instead of putting all those documents into one folder, an abstract simply summarizes them, beginning when the property was deeded from the state to a certain person. It can trace back all of the title holders on a property, as well as anything that may have happened with those peoples’ probates, deeds, dissolutions, marriages, etc. On the other hand, deeds are instruments of transfer and show who is the current owner of the property.

What does Title Services do for homebuyers?

As a home purchaser, you can protect yourself by going through the Iowa Title Guarantee program, who will help you make sure that there aren’t any unforeseen issues with the title that could disrupt or derail your attempts to purchase a property.

If you have questions about what kinds of specific protections you can get with Title Services or any questions about the real estate process in general, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to hear from you.

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