Landmark title survey yields surprising resultsMortgagePress.comIndependent Title Agent Survey,October Studies,RealAlliance,Trends,Insurance
A surprising number of independent title agencies nationwide
have been asked or pressured to insure over items they normally
would not insure, according to the recently released
Independent Title Agent Survey 2004. Sponsored by The
Title Report, a news source in the land title industry, and
produced by October Studies, the comprehensive study explores the
decision-making of today's independent title agents, as well as
their business practices, relationships, technology needs and
usages. Co-sponsored by RealAlliance, Independent Title Agent
Survey 2004 maps out key trends among independent title agents
and should be indispensable for any business working with them.
There are several surprises among the final results:
†Fifty-seven percent of those agents surveyed indicated
that they have been asked or pressured by customers to insure over
items they usually would not.
†Asked how often they were pressured, 12 percent responded
“very often,” while another 23 percent said
“sometimes.”
†Thirty-three percent of the independent agencies surveyed
view their primary underwriters as competition.
“While the number is not staggering, it is still a little
disappointing to see that more than half of the agencies surveyed
have felt or are feeling pressure to insure over items they usually
would not,” said Steve Massien, project manager for the
study.
More than 400 independent title agents nationwide responded to a
comprehensive list of questions about the way they conduct
business, day-to-day challenges they face and foreseeable risks and
opportunities in their immediate business futures.
With regulatory and market changes transforming the way real
estate is transferred, as well as the way people obtain mortgages,
there is an increasing need to understand the role played by the
title agent. Yet, despite their role in the center of every
transaction, few outside the industry understand the true scope of
the independent agent's operations.
“Very little research has ever been done about the title
agent,” said Massien. “Many people want to do business
with them, and just as many are directly affected by what they do.
But there's never been a window into how they conduct business or
to explore how they feel about the changes that are affecting them
today,” he said.
Survey areas were segmented by U.S. Census regions, with a
selected number of agents in each region randomly selected for
telephonic interviews. The survey questions were developed jointly
by October Research editors and The Research Investment Company, a
Cleveland-based organization that conducted the survey.
The Independent Title Agent Survey 2004 has been
published in three separate volumes:
Volume I: Title Technology 2004, Volume II: Title Business
Relationships 2004 and Volume III: Large Agency Perspectives. Each
volume also includes statistics, detailed charts and analyses.
For more information, visit www.octoberresearch.com.
