The Faces At Yankton’s Title Companies
If you’ve ever purchased or refinanced a home, chances are you’ve
been assisted in the process by a title company. I sat down with the
ladies from the title companies in Yankton to find more out about the
roles they play.
Yankton offers two experienced title companies, First Dakota Title
Company and Yankton Title Company. Both title companies are run
and managed by women who are skilled in several aspects of their job.
You’ll find that the ladies in both offices are dedicated, compassionate
and a pleasure to work with.
The role of the title company is to insure the title to the real estate
that you are purchasing. To do this, they search all public records at
the County Register of Deeds and the Clerk of Courts offices. They
try to find everything that is relevant to that piece of ground that a
person is purchasing or refinancing and compile that information
into a title commitment. The title commitment tells you the property
legal description, who owns the property, real estate taxes, easements,
covenants, etc.
They are looking to assure there are no liens, judgments or past
defects in deeds or anything that could cause a problem in the future.
“A lot of what we do here is curative work, we find the problems and
we cure the problems either prior to or at closing,” explains Nancy Hall
from Yankton Title Company. If you would just purchase a property
from someone without the title company’s services, any defects on that
property become your defects. This could cause problems down the
road if you try to sell the property. They work with various parties in
the process, from clients to realtors, lenders, attorneys and surveyors.
Their assistance expands further into the home purchasing and
refinancing process, both companies also offering escrow services to
assist with the closing of your loan.
The three ladies in the Yankton branch strive to make every
transaction the best for their customer. Tina Wysuph, Sara Magstadt
and Julie Blunck. Wysuph and Magstadt primarily work on the
escrow side of the transaction while Blunck completes title searches
and verifies taxes and liens against properties in Yankton county.
Their office in Sioux Falls prepares the title commitments, which are
reviewed by the ladies in Yankton before sending it out. Part of their
responsibilities in the Yankton office include a pre-close process before
closing where they prepare documents, request payoffs and assure all
requirements are satisfied to clear the property’s title.
Wysuph, Escrow Manager, came to First Dakota Title 3 years ago,
when she was offered the position while she was working at First
Dakota National Bank. She hired Magstadt, Manager shortly after she
started and Blunck, Title Support came aboard last year.
Wysuph enjoys her job and likes its flexibility. “I enjoy looking at
the title work and I enjoy working with people,” she smiles. Magstadt
agreed that their favorite part of the job is seeing the customer happy
after they finish helping the customer sign the closing paperwork.
“What I love about this job is that you can mix up customer service
and data entry,” Magstadt explains.
Wysuph adds, “We get to get out in the community and we get to do
some traveling.”
Wysuph and Magstadt didn’t have experience in real estate prior to
coming to First Dakota Title. Magstadt’s retail bank and management
experience gives her experience in working with people. Her job at
the title company is a good fit for her as she likes change and learning
new things. Wysuph has a strong background in documentation and
attention to detail from her previous position at First Dakota National
Bank.
They strive to be a team-player in the community. Magstadt
explains as Wysuph nods in agreement, “We’ve really worked hard to
become part of the community that we’re working in. Just being active
in the community, I feel, as a local business, is so important.”
As the last people that are seen in the homeownership process, their
goal is to make the customer’s experience the best possible. They feel
that they are the final step in the process, they tie all the pieces together
Buying or selling…
let’s begin this journey together.
L to R: Sara Magstadt, Julie Blunck & Tina Wysuph
First Dakota Title Company
First Dakota Title Company was formerly Meridian Title Company
until Dakota Homestead, part owner of Meridian Title, was bought
out by First Dakota Title this summer. They have been in Yankton
for six years and have offices in Vermillion and Elk Point (Union
County Abstract), all branches under the Title Resource Network. The
company is locally grown and their funds stay within the community.
(Note: First Dakota Title Company is not affiliated with First Dakota
National Bank.)
6vHERVOICEvNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017
Tara Portillo
Realtor
Cell: 605-760-3304
tarap@iw.net
Office: 605-665-7407
122 W. 3rd, Yankton