1st Option Title was founded by Scott Horne, a title attorney and real estate investor who experienced title problems firsthand as an investor. We built a title company specifically for the types of transactions other companies avoid.
1st Option Title has experience with virtually every investor transaction structure. If you invest, we speak your language.
Two simultaneous closings with transactional funding. We understand the fund flow, documentation, and underwriting requirements.
Contract assignments with clear documentation. We work with wholesalers and assignors to ensure clean chain of assignments.
Wholesale-friendly title services. We understand assignment and double-closing structures and work within applicable state law.
Title support for the full flip lifecycle: acquisition, rehab, and resale. We help identify issues before they affect your profit.
Title at acquisition and refinance. We understand the BRRRR cycle and how title issues at refinance can interrupt it.
Long-term title considerations for rental properties. Entity ownership, title insurance, and planning for future refinancing and sales.
Portfolio-level title coordination for investors acquiring multiple properties. Consistent entity ownership and documentation.
Compressed timelines, lender-specific title requirements, and lien priority coordination. We work with hard money lenders.
Proper documentation for private lending arrangements. Notes, deeds of trust, and title insurance for private lenders and borrowers.
Entity documentation, operating agreements, resolutions, and authorization. We know what title needs from an LLC buyer.
Trust documentation, trustee authority, and trust structure verification. We work with revocable and irrevocable trusts.
Unreleased mortgages, deceased owners, tax liens, judgments, and chain-of-title gaps. We assess what can be resolved.
Independent ownership verification, lien checks, and legal description confirmation for direct purchases outside MLS.
Owner-financed transactions with proper note and deed of trust documentation. Title insurance options for seller/lender.
Buying subject to existing financing requires careful documentation and underwriting. We evaluate these structures.
Title defects, clouds on title, curative work, quiet title actions. We evaluate what can be resolved before closing.
1st Option Title was created by Scott Horne, a title attorney and real estate investor who saw firsthand how difficult it can be to close an investor transaction when the title company does not understand the structure. Scott experienced title problems as an investor before becoming a title attorney, and that experience shaped how 1st Option Title operates today.
The company was built to handle assignments, double closings, creative financing, distressed properties, entity transactions, and difficult title issues. That is not an add-on to what we do. It is what we do.
Note: For additional educational information from Scott Horne on real estate investing, title matters, and real estate law, visit the Horne Real Estate Law YouTube channel. Horne and Associates is a separate brand from 1st Option Title. This article discusses 1st Option Title's title and escrow services, which do not include legal representation.
Whether you are flipping, wholesaling, BRRRR-ing, building a portfolio, or working on a difficult distressed property, 1st Option Title can help. Open title early.