First Land Deal - Title Insurance question

[Austin Hall]

Hey folks,

I love being able to look through these forums, they have been a big help!

I am about to start a contract on my first deal. The seller lives in Florida and she inherited several properties in Georgia from her ex-husband. I negotiated a very reasonable price and offered to pay for the closing costs and back taxes. I am using a real estate attorney who I know personally and I trust. I am also planning on obtaining title insurance on both properties. I have four questions:

1. The current owner does not have title insurance on either property. Do you think this will be an issue at all considering that I do plan on getting title insurance?

2. I want to be able to sell these lots to someone who plans to build on them so I went to view these properties myself. One of them has quite a slope but it looks possible to build on it in my (unprofessional) opinion. There were some trees but no huge trees that would hard to remove. Adjacent to the lot I plan to buy there was a neighbor who built a house and the slope on their land is similar. I checked the zoning so I know you are allowed to build on it. Do you think I should get a professional opinion from a builder before closing the deal?

3. How long of an "inspection period" is reasonable. If I plan to close in three weeks can I make the inspection period three weeks long up until the day of closing?

4. Is there anything else I need to do myself? Land survey, ect?

Thanks,
Austin

[Marelyn Valdes]

The deed is recorded with the clerk of court and should be available online or if the clerk charges, should be able to send you a copy for $1 or $2 per page.  As for title insurance, the title search is one amount and the policy is another and they do a new title search every time it's issued, so it shouldn't make any difference in the cost.  I make my purchase agreement contingent on getting a title policy issued.  You should also be able to check the property appraiser's site to see which builder pulled the permit to build next door to your sloping lot.  I would just call the builder and ask if there was any additional permitting or expense because of the slope.