Best Practice Questions For Online Auction Purchases

[Alex Rodolitz]

Hello,

I am about to purchase a quit claim deed for a single family house in an online auction in Columbus, Ohio. When the title was run through a title search company, my partner and I were asked "if the owner is still alive?" The preparer told us, "there is a mortgage on the house for 60K". When asked if the title was "clean", the preparer said "no". What we would like to know is:

(We know from research we are purchasing the "interest" in the property)

1) Is it possible in the state of Ohio to obtain title insurance on quit-claim deed properties? Has any one this before?

2) If we purchase this property, will the mortgage transfer to us or does it remain between the bank and the original owner?

3) Outside of the title search and taxes due, is there any specific information we should be looking for to ensure we receive the property without any financial burden? Or a binding legal agreement?

Thank you!