A title search when buying a house is done after you and the seller sign the purchase agreement and before closing, during the escrow or due diligence period. The work itself usually takes anywhere from a few days to about two weeks, depending on how tangled the property’s ownership history is.1Fannie Mae. Understanding the Title Process
Why the Search Waits for a Signed Contract
The timing is deliberate. Neither side wants to spend money digging through public records before both parties have committed in writing. Once the purchase agreement is signed, a title company, escrow agent, or in some states a real estate attorney begins examining the chain of ownership to confirm the seller can actually deliver clear title to you.1Fannie Mae. Understanding the Title Process
If you’re financing the purchase, your mortgage lender triggers the search as a condition of loan approval. The lender is protecting its own collateral, not doing you a favor. Fannie Mae, for instance, requires every loan it buys to be backed by a title insurance policy on approved forms, and that policy cannot be issued until a search has been completed.2Fannie Mae. General Title Insurance Coverage So if you’re taking out a mortgage, the search is going to happen whether you ask for it or not, and it will happen on the lender’s schedule.
How Long the Search Takes
The property’s history drives the timeline. A newly built home with one prior owner moves fast. A century-old farmhouse that has passed through estates, been subdivided, and changed hands a dozen times takes longer, because there are more records to trace and more places for errors to hide.
A few days is realistic for a straightforward case. Two weeks is closer to the ceiling for an ordinary residential search. If problems surface, that window stretches.
The Title Contingency Window
Most purchase agreements include a title contingency clause. This gives you a defined period to receive the search results, review them, and raise objections. If the title comes back clean, you move toward closing. If it doesn’t, the contingency period gives the seller time to fix the issues or gives you a path to cancel the deal and recover your earnest money.
After the search is complete, you’ll receive a preliminary title report, sometimes called a title commitment. It lists the current owner, the legal description of the property, and every exception to clear title the search uncovered. Your purchase agreement typically gives you a limited window to object to any exception listed. Miss that window and you’re generally considered to have accepted those items, so this is not a document to skim.
Who Orders It and Who Pays
With a mortgage, the lender orders the search through its chosen title company or settlement agent. In a cash deal, the buyer (or their attorney or title company) initiates it. The examiner is a neutral party whose job is to produce an unbiased report, not to represent either side.1Fannie Mae. Understanding the Title Process
Who pays varies by location, market conditions, and the terms of the purchase agreement. In many transactions the buyer covers it. In competitive markets, sellers sometimes offer to pay title-related costs as an incentive. Your purchase agreement should spell out who is responsible, and your Loan Estimate from the lender will itemize title-related charges including the lender’s title insurance premium and any search or examination fees.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Guide to the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure Forms
When Defects Push the Timeline
If the search comes back clean, the transaction moves toward closing on the schedule you negotiated. If it doesn’t, closing pauses until the problems are resolved. The seller is typically responsible for clearing title defects, because the whole point of the sale is delivering a marketable title to you. Most purchase agreements give the seller a specific number of days to cure. If the seller can’t fix the problem within that window, you can usually either accept the title as-is (sometimes with a price reduction) or terminate under your title contingency.
Common fixes are quick: paying off an old lien, obtaining a release from a prior mortgage that was satisfied but never properly recorded, or correcting a clerical error in a deed. Other problems take real time.
Federal Tax Liens Can Add Weeks
A federal tax lien attaches to all property belonging to the taxpayer and doesn’t automatically disappear when the property is sold.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6321 – Lien for Taxes Once the IRS files notice of its lien, that lien takes priority over most later claims.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6323 – Validity and Priority Against Certain Persons To close the sale, the seller typically has to apply for a Certificate of Discharge using IRS Form 14135, which requires a professional appraisal, a copy of the sales contract, and a proposed closing statement showing how the IRS will be paid from the sale proceeds.6Internal Revenue Service. Form 14135 – Application for Certificate of Discharge of Property from Federal Tax Lien That process can add weeks to your closing timeline, so it’s worth catching early.
Quiet Title Actions Add Months
Some defects can’t be fixed with a payoff letter. When the chain of title has gaps, a prior owner is still listed in records and can’t be located, or someone files a competing ownership claim, the remedy may be a quiet title action, which asks a court to rule on who actually owns the property. These are most common after tax sales, foreclosures, and estate disputes. An uncontested case can cost $1,500 to $5,000 in legal fees. A contested one can cost far more and drag on for months. If your search reveals a defect this serious, the timing question becomes whether to wait or walk away under your contingency.
If You’re Paying Cash
Without a lender in the picture, no one forces you to run a title search or set it on any particular schedule. Some cash buyers skip the search entirely to save money and close faster. That decision shifts the full risk onto you: if a lien, forgery, or ownership dispute surfaces after you take title, there’s no lender’s insurance backstopping the deal, and suing a seller who may be judgment-proof or long gone is an expensive gamble.
The timing advice for a cash purchase is the same as for a financed one. Order the search as soon as the purchase agreement is signed, give it the same few days to two weeks to complete, and build a contingency into your contract so you have room to respond if problems turn up. The few hundred dollars a title search costs is small insurance against losing your entire investment.