Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of Tuscaloosa and Northport!
Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
Anchor Title with Katie Osburne
Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of a property purchase? How does a contract become a close? Katie Osburne, a single mom, horse lover, and the House Counsel and Closing Attorney at Anchor Title, takes us through the intricate process of closing a title. With an enlightening peek into her demanding career and personal life, Katie underscores the importance of having an attorney at your side during the closing process. She also shares her resilience and determination in juggling her challenging role with her duties as a single mom.
Join us as Katie dispels common misconceptions about the real estate industry, revealing the immense work that goes into researching the title and ensuring all contract elements are met before the final signing. Moreover, she shares her unique career journey, moving from private practice to system counsel, and finally settling into her role at Anchor Title. Katie's story is not only insightful for anyone involved in real estate but also inspiring for those grappling with balancing career and personal life. Don't miss out on this episode as Katie offers a candid view of her life and a valuable insight into the essential role of a closing attorney in the property buying process. #GNPNorthport #realestateattorney #lender #homeloans #lending #escrow #preapproved #buyerspecialist #titlecompany.
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor podcast. I'm your host, Patricia Blondheim, and today we have Good Neighbor Katie Osborne. Katie is the House Counsel and Closing Attorney at Anchor Title here in Tuscaloosa. Katie, how are you today?
Speaker 2:I'm good, how are you? I'm doing great. Thank you. I'm excited to have you in the office or in the studio and, sorry about the little blurb, I have a puppy here in my office with me. Everyone should know, in case she starts crying, but she's definitely chewing on my toes right now. So tell our listeners about your business. Tell us about Anchor Title.
Speaker 3:Okay, so Anchor Title is a closing and escrow company issuing title policies or just doing closings for lenders, anyone buying refining construction loans on properties in Tuscaloosa County and actually in surrounding counties. We have seven offices across the state and one in Florida. So we started on the coast in 2004 and we have offices in Orange Beach, gulf Shores, mobile Daphne, birmingham and Tuscaloosa. We are the newest office.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's great, so tell our listeners about your journey. Katie, how did you end up being a closing attorney and indeed the House Counsel?
Speaker 3:So I spent seven and a half years in private practice. I had a little bit of real estate experience, but not a lot, but I did kind of a little bit of everything. So from there, because my practice area was so broad, I went to the Chancellor's Office where I was System Counsel for the UA System. It's been about seven years there and that's where I really got involved in doing some real estate stuff with them, with the campuses and that sort of thing, and I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 3:After COVID I actually was in the middle of it my daughter had like three years left in school and I was so busy and just a timing in life thing. So I decided lawyers average change careers seven times. That's the average. I'm like I'm right on track. I'll change again. No, but I really enjoyed the real estate stuff. I wanted something with a different pace and I had a bunch of friends that were real leaders that were saying you should just go do this. So I conveniently had a common friend with the owners of Anchor and they were looking to expand and I was looking to get started and so it was a perfect situation.
Speaker 2:Great and you're really involved in educating people about the title process. It's incredibly intricate and the job that you do is huge and undersung. So let me get you started here and ask you about probably opening a Pandora's box here about any misconceptions about your industry.
Speaker 3:Are there any misconceptions about the industry and what we do?
Speaker 2:Yes, what you do.
Speaker 3:I would say that people don't necessarily understand how much work behind the scenes it goes into getting from a contract to a close. When you research the title, you know we go back 30 years regardless, even if there's a prior policy, and so the things were very thorough. So you know, I think people assume whether it's because it's happened to them before. They just think that this is something we pick up the day before and work the file and then you know you can get to the closing table, and that's not the case when we can turn them around rather quickly if there's a need to. But, like I said, we go back 30 years. We go back all the way through the title and make sure everything's good. We have to balance with lenders if there's a lender involved, you know, collect all invoices. So all of those things, basically every contract element that the parties have agreed on. It's our responsibility to make sure all of those are met before we have anybody put pen to paper.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, listen, y'all, do not do a closing without an attorney. It is such a mistake.
Speaker 3:Well it is. And actually I had a friend the other day call me and said hey, I've done some work with these guys before. They're going to sell me a foreclosure property and they just want to exchange a deed. It's a good friend of mine, he's actually a good client and I said let's not do that. He said, well, you know why, what's the risk in that? And I said, well, if you just close it without a deed, you don't know, and it's a quick claim deed, you don't know what's behind you and there's nobody backing that, so you don't know if you're actually getting good title.
Speaker 3:So you know, he again professionally works with me, so he kind of understands the process, and he said, yep, that makes sense, so let's go ahead and do that. So I had to call him this week and say, hey, I'm so glad you, you know, listened to me and went this route because there's a problem in your chain of title. So you know, he was, of course, very relieved and grateful and it's a relatively easy fix. But it's things like that that we could, you know, track down and most of them we can fix relatively easy. But for the, you know, the person buying the home they wouldn't even know, begin to know where to start, and so that's really the purpose of their policy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, agreed, agreed. Well, Katie, what do you do for fun when you're not working?
Speaker 3:I try to keep up with my daughter, who's a senior, who's athletic and she rides horses, which is actually my hobby too. I don't do it as often as she does, but you know we both love it, so spend a lot of time at the barn. I just I love to be outside, so kind of anything outside, and socializing, of course, with my friends and colleagues. So really right now, you know this is keeping me pretty busy and of course her being a senior is keeping me pretty busy. So that's you know a lot of what I do for fun.
Speaker 2:Is she going to pursue a question and a question team in university?
Speaker 3:She is. She is actually committed to a college already. Oh, that's wonderful.
Speaker 2:She is going to have such a great experience. I did that in university and it was amazing. It's going to be a great colony and group of people for her to belong to so terrific. Can you describe, katie, one hardship or life challenge that has changed you and made you better and more resilient?
Speaker 3:Sure. So I became a single mom when my daughter was three and you know that was hard. I didn't have family in town. So really balancing a full-time career and you know, really it's not necessarily eight to five when you're a lawyer so balancing that and balancing being her primary caregiver and making sure that she had everything she needed in terms of school but socially, activities outside that sort of thing, you know that was pretty hard and I had to kind of learn and of course there were some hard times, you know, as everybody goes through. But I just had to learn.
Speaker 3:You know you get what seems like a mountain, you work your way through it a little bit at a time and then you get to the other side and you've learned something from it, you grow from it and you know it's just kind of another tool in your toolbox when you're dealing with the next inevitable life situation that comes along.
Speaker 3:You know I used to think when I used to have a really hard time when I was working because I had all this we'll call it mommy guilt that I wasn't there enough, all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 3:But as she's gotten older I've realized that it actually in some ways, and a lot of ways has benefited her, because there were times I needed her to, you know, be responsible about your homework. Don't make me keep your you know my thumb on your head or you know I need you to figure out how to handle that yourself. Nothing big, but it was just, you know, little things along the way, because I was, you know, prohibited from being, you know what they call the helicopter parent. And so now she's going to college next year and you know I don't have to worry about her per se, like not being able to make it. I mean and with work it's the same thing I mean you have days and weeks that are crazy, hectic and lots to you know, lots to do, and you just again work your way through it and it's all a learning process.
Speaker 2:What a great role model your daughter had in you. Well, thank you. I know she will appreciate you later, probably at 17,. She doesn't appreciate you so much, but she will later.
Speaker 3:Actually, I'm unbelievably fortunate she does appreciate me. Now I have that abnormal teenage girl who's wonderful.
Speaker 2:Well, tell me, how can listeners learn more about anchor title?
Speaker 3:Well, I actually give classes. We do them a lot of times in brokerages, but any group that would want me to come in and, you know, sit down with them and do kind of a deep dive into any of the topics related to closings. I mean, we do a basically a contract close class where we walk through. Right now the big thing is I'm doing a fraud class on wire fraud and seller impersonation and so, as one of the realtors coined it the other day, they were like this is my two favorite things wrapped into one class. It's true crime and real estate. So, again, you know, happy to come and meet with anybody. If a listener has a question and wants to reach out, you can get our office number on the website, but it's 205-343-0476. I'm happy to answer, you know, one-off questions, random questions, and help people through, get the process started.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been the beneficiary of some of your teaching and you have a way of breaking down the information in a way that's really really understandable. I mean, you don't speak, you don't speak lawyer, you speak human being, and you were able to illustrate to me really significantly complicated situations in a way that I could absorb it very, very quickly. So I can speak to you as a teacher and say that you know, you're very accomplished and easy to understand. Thank you, I appreciate it, but it's been great seeing you again and it's been great having you in the studio. Thank you for stopping by.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast North Point. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPNorthportcom or call 205-809-4910.