The fire department should put them in for them if they think its so easy to get it done. 

My go to for lowest hassles, taxes and  transaction costs are Lease Options or selling directly to the renters. 

And my recent transactions in IOWA thats a whole nother enchilada with their title abstracts literally compiled and handed to the buyers for safe keeping..

There was lots of discussion in the department about whether the matter was in fact covered but my opinion ultimately prevailed. 

All are great tools.Yes there are transactional costs associated with each but there will come a time where the cash flow properties incur transactional costs as well.

If this is how it works, do I ever go through the title company like I would in a normal wholesale transaction?

Do they want the transactional expert or would a relationship be more valuable to them?  

Quote from @Frank Chin: @Matthew SpiegelSome years back, I used to go to the local building or planning departments, and get the information from the local offices directly.

I am looking forward to my first Wholesale transaction.

I have a title report from my lawyer, but it is somewhat confusing as the land has been subdivided (it started as 9 acres and is now 1.5) and has quite a few transactions - including to the county (I.e allowing the county to build a road).