Employees describe local title, escrow services
There is a new title company on the block, ready to open its newly-renovated doors to those who wish to sell property with a bit more security.
Charter Title & Escrow, part of a branch of statewide title and escrow services, has opened as of three months ago on the downtown square near the Cottonwood Gallery.
The company hosted an open house Thursday, inviting the public in to see the new decor and learn about the company and what they do.
“Overall, everyone has been very inviting and welcoming to us,” said Heather Giffrow, head of marketing. “I’m not from Aurora, nor am I here all the time, and everyone was just over-the-moon excited to have us here.”
Giffrow has a background in banking and had connections with the company from her interactions through her previous job in the financial sector.
“It kind of just fit my background and everything that I was doing,” she recalled. “And it was just the next fit. It was a good company.”
Also welcoming guests to the new location was Hannah Prusia, the escrow closer, who got her start from applying to be a lawyer’s assistant and ended up with a position in the title company.
“It’s something different all the time,” she said. “Nothing is really ever boring. There’s always something to keep you on your toes. And yeah, I switched over to Charter and they’re just a really good company to work for.”
The main clients for Charter Title are real estate agents, bankers or individuals looking to buy or sell a home. Title services include researching the deeds and property history from sources to see if any liens or other hidden conditions might be attached to a piece of property.
“We have people who specifically do the searches,” Prusia said. “They start out looking at the assessor’s page and Nebraska deeds online. Then (they) dig a little deeper and go to the courthouse, look at the old deeds to make sure everything’s clean and clear.”
At the time of closing, there are efforts to process the file, making sure the buyer and seller have what they want from the property deal, also confirming that inspections are paid, repairs are made, according to Prusia.
Charter Title also provides title insurance in case there is anything the initial searches miss, a fee based on a percentage of the purchase price. The company also provided escrow services where a third party accepts money for an agreed service on the property and disburses the money once the task or condition is complete.
“So, for an example, if somebody is purchasing a house, but it needs a bunch of repairs and we have estimates for it, we will take part of that estimate,” Prusia described. “We’ll take one and a half times that, and then we’ll hold it for the buyers and the sellers. And then, once the services are done, we will pay that for them so that everybody knows that the money is there and it’s held and taken care of by a neutral party.”
The local chapter currently does not offer any surveying services.
As for the management structure, the employees interviewed noted that managers are located in Omaha, where the team occasionally drop by on a revolving circuit of locations to inspect local performance.
Charter Title in Aurora already has a steady number of clients, but had to work around a renovation that started about a year ago to convert the space from a photography studio to an office. The three office rooms had to be constructed from scratch, according to employees.
“It is what it is,” Giffrow said. “We made the best of it.”
With a new office and future ahead of them, the employees offered how they feel when closing on a property.
“I mean, it’s just kind of like a deep breath of ‘Okay, got it, we’re good,’” Prusia said.
“I would say it’s rewarding to actually see that and the process of that new potential home buyer leaving, being a first-time home buyer, seeing their excitement to finally have the house and have a space of their own,” Giffrow concluded.
Charter Title & Escrow has offices in Lincoln, Omaha, Hastings, Beatrice, Plattsmouth, Nebraska City and now Aurora.