What Is a Title Company and What Do They Do in Arizona?
A title company is the neutral third party that makes a home sale legally stick. ClozeEZ coordinates with the title company you choose and assembles the FSBO title packet, including the lender payoff information escrow needs. In Arizona a title company does two jobs at once: it verifies and insures that the seller can actually transfer clean ownership (title), and it acts as the escrow agent: holding the money, preparing settlement documents, recording the deed, and paying everyone out. Arizona closings run through title companies, not attorneys, and that is true for FSBO sales too.
The title side: proving the home can be sold
The title company searches county records for anything clouding ownership: existing loans, tax liens, judgments, easements, HOA liens, or gaps in the ownership chain. The result is a title commitment listing what must be cleared before closing, usually your mortgage payoff and any stray liens.
Then it insures the result. The buyer gets an owner's title insurance policy protecting their ownership against undiscovered defects; a lender's policy covers the buyer's mortgage lender. In Arizona the seller customarily pays for the owner's policy and the buyer for the lender's policy; like everything, this is negotiable in the contract.
The escrow side: the neutral middle
The same company typically serves as escrow agent. It opens escrow when the contract is signed, holds the buyer's earnest money in trust, collects loan documents and payoff figures, prorates taxes and HOA dues, and prepares the settlement statements both sides sign.
Neither buyer nor seller ever hands money to the other. Funds flow through escrow, and nothing moves until the contract's conditions are met.
Closing day and after
At closing the title company gathers signatures (often by mobile notary), receives the buyer's funds and lender's wire, records the deed with the county recorder, and disburses: your loan gets paid off, fees get paid, and your proceeds are wired to you, commonly the same day as recording or the next business day.
For a FSBO sale the title company matters even more: it is the professional infrastructure that makes an owner-to-owner sale exactly as safe and final as an agent-listed one. You are free to choose your own title company; sellers commonly select it in the purchase contract.
The title company's own fees are separate from any platform charge. On ClozeEZ, listing is free and the only platform charge is a flat $200 Platform Success Fee per party at closing.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a title company for a FSBO sale in Arizona?
Practically, yes. The title company clears and insures ownership, holds all funds in escrow, records the deed, and disburses proceeds. Every safe Arizona sale, FSBO or listed, closes through one.
Who picks the title company?
It is negotiated in the purchase contract. In much of Arizona the seller's choice is customary, but either side can propose one, and you are free to shop.
What does a title company cost in Arizona?
Two main pieces: title insurance premiums (rate-regulated, scaled to price; the seller customarily buys the owner's policy) and an escrow fee, customarily split between buyer and seller. Get a quote up front; companies publish rates.
Is a title company the same as escrow?
In Arizona, usually one company performs both roles: the title work (search and insurance) and the escrow work (holding funds, documents, and closing the transaction).