What’s behind the surge in title M&A?

Today’s Mortgage Desk segment of HousingWire Daily features an exclusive interview with Sarah Perkins, Lawyers Title of Arizona sales executive. Perkins has been in mortgage title for about 17 years, and compares the surging title merger and acquisition activity today with the two acquisitions she has gone through. 

In this episode, Perkins discusses what is causing this increase in title M&A, such as technology and the growth environment, as well as what might be ahead for the industry headed into 2021. 

Here is a small preview of today’s interview. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Kelsey Ramírez: As we see an increase in consolidation, what must title companies focus on to remain competitive?

Sarah Perkins: That’s the million-dollar question. How do we all stay competitive and have our own edge? Where we are right now is everybody wants to make a real estate transaction easier, shorter, more convenient, more affordable. To stay competitive as a title company, it’s really about being easy to do business with; it’s the convenience. When OpenDoor hit the market in ’14 it was they sell convenience, and title’s not selling convenience, but there are a lot of consumers in our industry that that speaks volumes to and so making it very easy to work with us is probably the biggest thing. 

It’s super competitive, just like lending and real estate sales. If brand “x” can’t do it, the customer can just walk down the street to brand “y” and get it, so title companies know that they really have to be constantly upping their game. And I think the things to make it easier and convenient are going to be about accuracy and speed, whether it’s through technology, consolidation or more employees to provide better customer service. And that’s another reason for title M&A: an acquisition is just to have more humans to be able to handle the type of business and being able to provide customer service because quality customer service always matters.

HousingWire Daily examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsroom that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd and Victoria Wickham.

HousingWire articles covered in this episode:

• The title insurance arms race heats up