1278 - During the real estate transaction (especially if you're a first-time buyer), you're hit with so many foreign terms, fees and requirements your head spins. One of those strange and unfamiliar costs is title insurance. In most cases, borrowers have no option -- either you get title insurance (among other requirements) or you don't get a loan. The lender says you need it, you want the loan to go though, so you buy title insurance. Great. So what is title insurance? When you buy a home you want to make sure that the people selling it actually have full and legal title. The party who conducts closing will check this out by going down to the local property records office to research the history of ownership. But -- and here's the tricky part -- those records down at the property office may be official, but they may also be wrong. It's also possible that the person who does the title search can make a mistake and also that important information may simply not be recorded. For instance, maybe a bill against the property was not recorded or some taxes were not been paid. Or, suppose that 40 years ago the property you want to purchase was owned by Smith. Let's also imagine that Smith was a bigamist with an extra spouse. Read this Nemmar Real Estate Training article at Insurance, Taxes