Title Insurance
One thing on resales that you have to remember. Yes, the closing company and many times the broker if there is one get estoppel letters from the resort or Owner Services.
What the estoppels will tell us is the maintenance fees that are due or paid and generally if there is a loan form the developer on the unit that needs to be paid off.
These are things the developer knows about as they are under their control. What it does not tell me is if a taxing entity like the IRS or the State have attached a lien against the owner or past owners or if there is a creditor judgment or other matters.
Most people say, go look in the public records of the county and all is well.... sometimes that is true often times it is not. Not all Recorders Offices record the same documents.
In Florida the Clerk of the Court or the Comptroller record all documents, land records, court paper etc. Now go to South Carolina, the Register of Mesne Conveyances or the Register of Deeds, only record Deeds and Mortgages. If you want to know about possible judgments, you have to check both the Summary Court and Circuit Court. What they don't tell me is Probate matters, different court or Tax issues.
Then what do you do if the County is not online with records, still happens in many areas. A title search and policy properly done, I can not speak for how every company does there searches, would look at all those records. For counties that have to be hand searched, the title company should be hiring a local abstractor to do the work. In some states, an attorney has to be consulted to render proper opinions of title.
Dave M is right on the value issue. I always ask people, what is your risk tolerence. If it is low, then buy it. If your buying for 500 or a couple of thousand and a lien pops up, can you afford to lose the money. If you can, you really do not need title insurance.
What you need to consider is what can YOU afford to lose or risk.
You do not say what state the $235 was for, or the purchase price of the property. It might be high it might not.
I can tell you in Florida, if a title company is not issuing title insurance they are not legally allowed to prepare the closing documents as the Bar has determined that to be the practice of law.
Dave