The Faces At Yankton’s Title Companies If you’ve ever purchased or refinanced a home, chances are you’ve been assisted in the process by a title company. I sat down with the ladies from the title companies in Yankton to find more out about the roles they play. Yankton offers two experienced title companies, First Dakota Title Company and Yankton Title Company. Both title companies are run and managed by women who are skilled in several aspects of their job. You’ll find that the ladies in both offices are dedicated, compassionate and a pleasure to work with. The role of the title company is to insure the title to the real estate that you are purchasing. To do this, they search all public records at the County Register of Deeds and the Clerk of Courts offices. They try to find everything that is relevant to that piece of ground that a person is purchasing or refinancing and compile that information into a title commitment. The title commitment tells you the property legal description, who owns the property, real estate taxes, easements, covenants, etc. They are looking to assure there are no liens, judgments or past defects in deeds or anything that could cause a problem in the future. “A lot of what we do here is curative work, we find the problems and we cure the problems either prior to or at closing,” explains Nancy Hall from Yankton Title Company. If you would just purchase a property from someone without the title company’s services, any defects on that property become your defects. This could cause problems down the road if you try to sell the property. They work with various parties in the process, from clients to realtors, lenders, attorneys and surveyors. Their assistance expands further into the home purchasing and refinancing process, both companies also offering escrow services to assist with the closing of your loan. The three ladies in the Yankton branch strive to make every transaction the best for their customer. Tina Wysuph, Sara Magstadt and Julie Blunck. Wysuph and Magstadt primarily work on the escrow side of the transaction while Blunck completes title searches and verifies taxes and liens against properties in Yankton county. Their office in Sioux Falls prepares the title commitments, which are reviewed by the ladies in Yankton before sending it out. Part of their responsibilities in the Yankton office include a pre-close process before closing where they prepare documents, request payoffs and assure all requirements are satisfied to clear the property’s title. Wysuph, Escrow Manager, came to First Dakota Title 3 years ago, when she was offered the position while she was working at First Dakota National Bank. She hired Magstadt, Manager shortly after she started and Blunck, Title Support came aboard last year. Wysuph enjoys her job and likes its flexibility. “I enjoy looking at the title work and I enjoy working with people,” she smiles. Magstadt agreed that their favorite part of the job is seeing the customer happy after they finish helping the customer sign the closing paperwork. “What I love about this job is that you can mix up customer service and data entry,” Magstadt explains. Wysuph adds, “We get to get out in the community and we get to do some traveling.” Wysuph and Magstadt didn’t have experience in real estate prior to coming to First Dakota Title. Magstadt’s retail bank and management experience gives her experience in working with people. Her job at the title company is a good fit for her as she likes change and learning new things. Wysuph has a strong background in documentation and attention to detail from her previous position at First Dakota National Bank. They strive to be a team-player in the community. Magstadt explains as Wysuph nods in agreement, “We’ve really worked hard to become part of the community that we’re working in. Just being active in the community, I feel, as a local business, is so important.” As the last people that are seen in the homeownership process, their goal is to make the customer’s experience the best possible. They feel that they are the final step in the process, they tie all the pieces together Buying or selling… let’s begin this journey together. L to R: Sara Magstadt, Julie Blunck & Tina Wysuph First Dakota Title Company First Dakota Title Company was formerly Meridian Title Company until Dakota Homestead, part owner of Meridian Title, was bought out by First Dakota Title this summer. They have been in Yankton for six years and have offices in Vermillion and Elk Point (Union County Abstract), all branches under the Title Resource Network. The company is locally grown and their funds stay within the community. (Note: First Dakota Title Company is not affiliated with First Dakota National Bank.) 6vHERVOICEvNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 Tara Portillo Realtor Cell: 605-760-3304 tarap@iw.net Office: 605-665-7407 122 W. 3rd, Yankton