Good Afternoon —
Last Friday I had the chance to speak with industry veteran James Paolino of RES/Title. Paolino, a lawyer, started the Massachusetts-based firm in 1994. As Massachusetts is a state that requires a lawyer for closings, his law office saw quite a few closings in addition to all the other legal matters they had to handle.
"I always felt back then it was like going to a hardware store for a hamburger," he said with a laugh. "They would be like, 'Well, attorney so-and-so has time on this Thursday afternoon in four weeks, you can close then.' It was a mess."
After seeing how closings were handled in other parts of the country, Paolino said he felt that there had to be a better way to do things, even while working within the confines of Massachusetts's regulations. This all led to the founding of RES/Title.
"It was a challenge at first, but I advertised that the only thing we did was title and closing, so increasing the efficiency was easy because that was all we did," Paolino explained.
From the get-go, Paolino's goal was to streamline the closing process, something we are still discussing nearly 28 years later.
"One of the biggest changes since I came into the industry is the advent of what I call the 'Amazon Philosophy,'" Paolino said. "The idea that you may have headquarters in one place but you are located everywhere. There are no more boundaries and this is causing local title agents, of which there are numerous, to slowly erode because the larger national companies, with the more sophisticated technology and better fraud protections, are taking business away from the hyper-local firms. These national firms are more like a one-stop shop."
Scaling to a national level is a daunting task and it brings along a whole host of issues, including addressing the wide variety of state regulations. Paolino, however, believes that if a firm hopes to be successful in this day in this day and age, scaling nationally is its best hope for longevity.
"About 80% of the closing process, from the title order to policy recording, is pretty standard throughout the nation and if you partner with a strong national underwriter then you should be in good shape," Paolino said. "When we have entered new states or counties, we get an education from the local underwriter when we apply for our license. So, yes, 20% of the process is different state to state, but you just have to accept that and make sure you know your regulations."
For Paolino, the key to continuing to improve how they serve customers regardless of their geographic location is keeping up to date with technology and not being afraid to explore new tech.
So, as we enter into a new year, what are some of the tech tools or solutions on your 2022 wish list? And what do you think are some of the biggest hurdles a firm needs to overcome in order to scale nationally?
Have a Happy Holiday Season and see you all in the new year —
Brooklee Han
Real Estate Reporter
EmoticonEmoticon