Behind every buyer-ready report is someone who knows what to look for, and where to look. Ria McQuaide is one of the title checkers at ntitle doing that work every day. Here she talks about what the investigation process actually involves, the matters she finds most interesting and what firms can expect when they work with us.
In title investigation, the interesting part is rarely what’s obvious. It’s what’s underneath – the detail that needs careful attention, the thing that wasn’t immediately apparent. That’s what I spend my time looking for.
What title investigation actually involves
When a matter comes in, we work through the title documents, such as office copies, leases, property information forms, any supporting documentation, and then establish what the title shows, what it doesn’t show, and what needs to be brought to the client’s attention.
Every title has its own history and its own quirks, so the skill is in knowing what to look for and understanding what you’re looking at when you find it. No two matters are ever quite the same, and that variety is a big part of what keeps the standard of investigation high.
At the end of the investigation, the firm receives three outputs – a set of enquiries, a conveyancer snapshot and a buyer-ready title report ready to send to the client without further review. The snapshot gives conveyancers a clear, quick summary of the key points without having to work through the full report themselves – something firms find particularly useful when they’re busy. Turnaround is within 48 hours, and the report arrives ready to act on.
The role of technology, and where experience comes in
Technology helps us work efficiently and consistently, but the investigation itself is carried out by our team – the decisions about what matters, what needs to be raised and how to report it clearly come from experience, not software. On more complex matters, we draw on each other’s knowledge as a team, which is one of the things I value about working at ntitle.
Complex and unregistered titles
Unregistered titles require a different approach to registered ones. Rather than working from a register, you’re tracing the history of a property through a chain of documents – going back through historical records, piecing together the chain of ownership and establishing what the title actually shows. It takes time to do properly, and when something unexpected turns up, understanding what it means and making sure it’s correctly reported is where specialist experience matters most.
For conveyancing teams without the time or capacity to absorb that kind of investigation, having it handled by specialists means the matter gets the attention it needs without taking a fee earner away from everything else on their desk.
Leaseholds and new builds
Leaseholds and new build transactions are two other areas I work on regularly. Both have their own particular demands – leaseholds require careful review of the lease terms and any provisions that might affect the buyer or their lender, while new builds tend to involve higher volumes of documentation and tighter timelines. Getting the investigation right from the start makes a real difference to how both types of transaction progress.
How ntitle supports your conveyancing team
The benefit for firms isn’t just about turnaround time – it’s knowing that what comes back has been looked at properly, and that the things that need to be flagged have been flagged, and nothing has been missed.
Consistency matters too – when firms use ntitle regularly, they know what to expect. The format is the same, the standard is the same and the report arrives ready to act on, which makes a real difference when a team is busy and needs to trust what lands on their desk.
That’s particularly valuable for less experienced members of a team. A buyer-ready report prepared by specialists gives them something they can learn from, as well as act on. The enquiries we raise and the issues we identify reflect the kind of specialist experience that not every team has available internally.
We work alongside conveyancers and the aim is always to take the title investigation off their plate, so they can focus on the work that needs more of their attention, and to do it in a way that feels like a natural extension of how the firm already operates.
To find out more about how ntitle handles specialist title investigation, contact us at info@ntitlesolutions.com, call 0333 242 2929 or request more information.
