I am not even under contract yet. Why would I pay for a search now?

That's a fair question, and a lot of people ask it. You don't need a contract or a lender to order. You can order the search on its own for $149, credited in full against the premium when the file closes with an Intelligent Title policy, and read the record before you commit to anything. My advice is to order before you sign, or the day you do. Start your order.

Isn't title work the lender's job?

It feels that way, and your lender does order title. But the lender's title insurance protects the lender's loan, as the CFPB explains. A search you order early answers your questions, on your timeline. Order before you sign and see the record for yourself.

My agent said the title company handles all of this.

Your agent is right that it gets handled, usually close to closing. This is the same search read earlier, while you still have room to talk about price, terms, and timing. Order before you sign and go into the negotiation knowing more.

I get a title commitment before closing anyway. What does this add?

You do, and it's an important document. This is the same search and examination, delivered at the start instead of near the end. The commitment still comes; it just stops being the first time you learn something about the property. Order early and experience the difference.

Is this $149 on top of my closing costs, or instead of something?

It's not an extra closing cost. It's a flat $149, credited in full against the premium when the file closes with an Intelligent Title policy. You're paying for the search earlier, not paying for it twice. Order before you sign.

What happens to my $149 if my plans change?

Plans change, and that's normal. The fee covers the search and examination, which were performed either way, and the findings are yours to keep. When you close with an Intelligent Title policy, the full $149 is credited against the premium.

My deposit is already committed. What is a search actually protecting at that point?

It's still worth having. Deposits are usually committed on assumptions, and a sourced record at or near contract lets you set terms and contingencies knowing what's actually recorded. Order the day you sign, and read the record while it still helps.

Do I need my agent's or lender's permission to order this?

No. You order it directly, the findings belong to you, and it doesn't interfere with your agent's or lender's process. Start your order.

Twenty-four hours sounds like marketing. And who do I talk to at ten at night?

I get the skepticism. The initial response arrives within 24 hours, and I answer pricing and status at any hour, including ten at night. A dedicated title closer and closing team handle your file, and a licensed title professional makes every judgment call. Order and see how it feels to get answers when you need them.

I own my home free and clear and I am not selling. Why would fraud against my title be my problem?

It makes sense to think fraud only matters when you're selling. Unfortunately, impersonation often targets owners who aren't, especially people who own property free and clear or don't live there, as the FBI has warned. A search shows you what's recorded against your property right now. If you'd like peace of mind, order one.

I am refinancing, or pulling equity out. Does the timing argument still apply?

It does. Refinances often turn on releases and payoffs from older loans. Reading the record before you apply means an old lien that was never released shows up before your rate is locked, not after. Order before you apply.

It is $149 against a purchase worth hundreds of thousands. Does it really move the needle?

For most people, a home is the largest thing they'll ever own. Reading the record costs $149, credited in full against the premium when the file closes with an Intelligent Title policy, and it happens while price and terms can still change. My advice is to order before you sign. Start your order.

For Real Estate Buyers & Owners, Pre-Policy Intelligence

For real estate buyers and existing owners, whether you are acquiring to reside, to rent, to lease, to hold as a small commercial asset, or to refinance a property you already own. Whether Intelligent Title was recommended to you by your attorney, your lender, your mortgage broker, or another party in your transaction, or you found us on your own, this page is for you. The $149 order you place puts the title record in your file at day one, so the acquisition sits on a clean foundation instead of on top of a title problem nobody looked for.

A smiling business owner in a denim shirt inside his shop

Built for buyers and ownersAnyone buying, refinancing or holding real estate who wants to know the record first.

SECTION 1

Why This Page Exists

For most buyers, real estate is one of the largest financial decisions they will ever make, whether the property is a primary residence, a second home, a rental, a small commercial holding, or a mixed-use building. Pre-Policy Intelligence exists to give that decision a clean foundation, the title record in your file at day one, before the closing calendar starts moving.

Your capital enters the transaction the moment you sign a purchase agreement, wire earnest money, or commit to a refinance. From that moment forward, everything downstream, inspection, appraisal, underwriting, the closing is scheduled, is built on the assumption that the title record is clean. Pre-Policy Intelligence confirms that assumption at the start, instead of leaving it to be discovered at the end.

The conventional sequence orders title work last. That means questions on the record, an unreleased prior mortgage, an old judgment, a boundary correction that never got filed, a lien from a rehab three owners back, often surface only when the closing is already on the calendar. When they surface late, there is limited time to resolve them. When they surface at day one, they get resolved as part of the ordinary work of getting to closing.

Pre-Policy Intelligence exists so the title record is understood from the beginning, on a timeline where anything the record shows can be handled cleanly.

SECTION 2

What Pre-Policy Intelligence℠ Is and What the $149 Order Does

Pre-Policy Intelligence is a title search and examination on the property you identify. When you place the $149 order, Intelligent Title opens the file and begins the work. Work begins on receipt of your order. Initial response within 24 hours.

What we examine:

Ownership and vesting — who owns the property today, how they took title, whether the chain of title is clean back through the last several conveyances.
Liens and mortgages — every recorded encumbrance against the property, including prior mortgages that should have been released but were not.
Encumbrances and easements — easements, restrictions, covenants, and rights of others in the property.
Judgments and tax review — recorded judgments against current or prior owners that attach to the property, and the status of real estate taxes and municipal assessments.
Legal description verification — that the legal description on record matches the property you are acquiring.

The $149 pays for that work, and it is applied in full to your premium when you close with an Intelligent Title policy. If your transaction closes with an Intelligent Title policy, the $149 is credited in full against your title insurance premium at closing.

A single-family home with a front porch on a quiet street — Single-familySingle-family, multifamily, mixed use, retail, industrial, hospitality and land: the same $149 search and examination for every property and transaction type.

SECTION 3

Why the Timing Matters, Contract to Closing

Milestone	Conventional Sequence	Pre-Policy Intelligence Sequence
Contract signed / refinance application	Title deferred. You commit capital.	You place the $149 order.
Day 1	—	Title work opens the moment the order is received. Ownership, liens, encumbrances, judgments, taxes, legal description under examination. Initial response targeted within 24 hours.
Inspection / appraisal period	Diligence spend committed. Title record unknown.	Diligence runs with title findings in the file. Any clearance already scheduled.
When the closing is scheduled	Title ordered late. Clearance surfaces days before closing.	Clearance already worked. Closing package assembled against findings the file has held from day one.
Closing table	Delayed, restructured, or forced with unresolved risk.	On the calendar you were promised.

SECTION 4

How It Enters Your Transaction

You place the $149 order through the order link on this page. Work begins on receipt.
You complete a short intake form identifying the property, your role (buyer or existing owner), and, if you are working with an attorney, lender, or broker, their contact information so we can coordinate the file with them.
Intelligent Title opens the file and begins the search and examination. Initial response within 24 hours.
Findings return to you — and to your attorney, lender, or broker if you have named them in the intake. If title clearance work is required, it is identified early with time to work it.
The file matures toward closing with the title record understood from the start. If the transaction closes with an Intelligent Title policy, the $149 credits against your premium at closing.

SECTION 5

What You Gain

Acquiring real estate is one of the most significant financial decisions most people ever make. What Pre-Policy Intelligence gives you is the ability to make it with the title record already in the file, so everyone on your team is working from documented facts from day one.

Your capital is protected. The title record is understood before earnest money or diligence spend is deep into the deal.
Your negotiation position is protected. Anything the record shows is identified with time to address it as part of the normal transaction flow, not compressed into the final days.
Your closing timeline is protected. The file arrives when the closing is scheduled with the title record already in hand.
Your professional team operates on documented facts. Your attorney, your lender, your broker, everyone in your transaction has the title record in the file from day one.
Your confidence at the closing table is earned. The reason to feel good about signing is that the work was done, with time, deliberately, from the start.

SECTION 6

Where It Applies

Residential purchase, primary residence, second home, vacation home
Single-family rental acquisition, held for lease income
Small multifamily acquisition, duplex, triplex, quadplex, small apartment
Small commercial acquisition, office condo, retail space, small industrial, small mixed-use
Land acquisition, residential lot, small parcel, agricultural
New construction purchase
Refinance, rate-and-term, cash-out, HELOC replacement, DSCR refinance on a held rental
Inheritance and estate transfers
Divorce and marital dissolution transfers
Quitclaim and boundary corrections
Properties with prior rehab work where lien history matters
Refinance of properties held in family trusts or LLCs
Any transaction where a prior title event, a foreclosure, a short sale, a tax sale, a probate, sits in the chain of title

SECTION 7

How You Arrived Here

Readers of this page arrive through two paths. Some were sent by their attorney, lender, mortgage broker, or another party working on their transaction, because that party operates the workflow Pre-Policy Intelligence is built to serve. Others found Intelligent Title directly, in advance of engaging any of those parties, because they wanted the title record understood before committing capital.

The order is the same in both cases. The $149 is paid by you, the buyer or owner, to Intelligent Title for title search and examination on the property you identify. Work begins on receipt of the order. Initial response within 24 hours.

Intelligent Title pays no referral fee, commission, marketing payment, revenue share, or other thing of value to any attorney, lender, broker, CDC, or other party for routing you to Pre-Policy Intelligence. The order structure is uniform across every relationship we work with. Nothing about how you arrived at this page changes what you pay, what you receive, or how the work is performed.

SECTION 8

What You're Paying For, and Your Provider Choice

What the $149 Pays For. You are paying Intelligent Title for the title search and examination on the property you identify. It is work Intelligent Title performs and delivers. If your transaction closes with an Intelligent Title policy, the $149 is credited in full against your title insurance premium at closing.

Your provider choice. Your choice of title insurance provider is yours. If you are working with a lender, that lender may maintain provider selection rules for the title insurance policy that closes your loan, and those rules continue to govern. The Pre-Policy Intelligence order does not override them. What it does is put the title record in your file early enough that everyone in your transaction is operating on documented facts, whatever policy path the transaction ultimately takes.

SECTION 9

What Pre-Policy Intelligence Covers

Pre-Policy Intelligence is the early, honest look at the record. It is not the same document as the formal title commitment or the final policy, and it is not meant to be. Those come later in the transaction, as the file matures, and each carries a different legal weight. The paragraph below sets out what each one is.

Deliverable hierarchy. Pre-Policy Intelligence produces a preliminary title picture, the earliest documented view of what is on record against the property. That picture is not a title commitment and it is not a policy. As the file matures toward closing, Intelligent Title issues the formal title commitment (governed by the underwriter's commitment form and applicable state regulation) and, at closing, the final title insurance policy (governed by the policy form and jurisdictional regulation). The three deliverables serve different purposes and carry different legal weight. Findings in the preliminary picture inform, but do not constitute, the commitment or the policy.

Pre-Policy Intelligence is record based. Ownership, liens, encumbrances, judgments, and tax status reflect the reasonably discoverable public record at the time the file is opened. Search turnarounds vary by jurisdiction, some municipal returns and survey coordinations run on standard local timelines beyond Intelligent Title's control.

Title work is distinct from home inspection, appraisal, and environmental assessment. Pre-Policy Intelligence coordinates the title package. Inspection, appraisal, and environmental remain separate workstreams.

PRICING

Pre-Policy Intelligence is $149.

Pre-Policy Intelligence is $149. That price is the same for every property, every customer, and every transaction type. Intelligent Title does not offer volume discounts, tiered pricing, negotiated rates, or promotional pricing on Pre-Policy Intelligence.

How the $149 works

One order, one file, from today to the policy

TodayOrder Pre-Policy Intelligence$149. No policy commitment and no executed contract required.
Within 24 hoursThe initial responseOwnership, liens, encumbrances, judgments and taxes, and the legal description.
At closingYour title insurance policyThe $149 is credited in full against the premium when the file closes with an Intelligent Title policy.

Price your policy with IRISThe findings are yours from the moment they are delivered.

SECTION 10

Getting Started

Place the $149 order at the link below. Complete the intake form after checkout so Intelligent Title can open the file and coordinate with your attorney, lender, or broker if you are working with one. Initial response within 24 hours of order.

For questions about Pre-Policy Intelligence, your file, or your transaction, contact orders@intelligentitle.com.

Know who owns the property and what’s owed on it before you sign.