UPDATE

Many buyers don’t know if they’ve obtained services

Considering the complexity and cost of purchasing a home, many consumers are educating themselves before buying. Yet a fair number of buyers don’t know whether they obtained certain valuable and important real settlement services, such as title insurance and appraisals.

A survey of 2,700 home buyers by the National Assn. of Realtors showed that 52% of the first-time buyers were unable to say whether they had an owner’s title insurance policy; 40% said they had a policy and 8% said they didn’t have one.

Among repeat buyers, 38% said they weren’t sure whether they had such protection; 55% said they had an owner’s title policy and 7% said they didn’t have one.

Six percent of first and repeat home buyers weren’t sure whether the home they purchased was appraised during the transaction. Of those who knew the home had been appraised, 20% didn’t know who had selected the appraiser.