Lydia Blair
By Lydia Blair Special Contributor Officially, a title company in Texas is referred to as Title Agent or Title Agency. They are responsible to and answer to a lot of folks – mortgage companies, real estate agents, buyers, sellers, brokers, underwriters, etc. Most notably, they follow the Texas Department of Insurance rules and regulations meticulously.…
By Lydia Blair Special Contributor Even though the services offered and fees charged by title companies across Texas are standardized, there is some variation in how they operate. Just as real estate brokerages and real estate agents vary in their operating standards and styles, so do title companies. Title companies in Texas have three basic…
Closing costs vary from state to state. And in Texas, they can vary from sale to sale. It may be surprising to see where you can and cannot save on your real estate sale or purchase. In Texas, title insurance rates are set by the Texas Department of Insurance. The rate is based on the…
By Lydia Blair Special Contributor We’ve all heard about the two things you can’t avoid – death and taxes. Just like there is a life cycle, there is a property tax cycle. The tax cycle is a lot easier to predict. This life cycle of property taxes follows the same pattern every year. If you’re…
By Lydia Blair Special Contributor Property taxes are the talk of the town right now. Municipalities all over the Metroplex are proposing tax rate increases on top of the frequent increase in property values. This year’s tax bill may be a double whammy for our already steep homeowner taxes. If you’re thinking of avoiding those…
