Home Bay expands into title and settlement services after buying stake in OnTitle

San Diego-based Home Bay has recently extended its escrow services beyond its home state of California, into states including Colorado, Florida, Illinois and Texas.

Now, the company is readying for a further expansion, getting into the title insurance and settlement services businesses after acquiring a fifty percent stake in OTC National, a title insurance provider that operates under the name of OnTitle.

OnTitle is currently licensed to offer title insurance and escrow services in 31 U.S. states. Following the acquisition, Home Bay will now be able to offer these same services through its own platform, which it describes as a “game-changing” development.

“Our investment in OnTitle gives our consumers a streamlined process and optimum experience,” Ken Potashner, Home Bay’s chairman and CEO, told HousingWire. “We’re now the one-stop-technology-shop for brokerage, title and escrow. Home Bay is quickly working its way into the full value chain to capture all affiliated services associated with a real estate transaction.”

Home Bay reckons it can offer these services as part of customer’s property transactions, helping them to save money by eliminating many unnecessary fees.

“For anyone who has ever looked at a settlement statement and wondered about all the junk fees tacked onto buying or selling a house, Home Bay is here to help,” Chris Crocker, vice president at Home Bay, explained. “Not only can Home Bay lower the cost of your transaction with its flat-fee brokerage model, we can also help consumers save money on the ancillary services needed to facilitate that sale.”

For its services, Home Bay generally charges between $2,000 and $3,500 per sale instead of a flat 3 percent commission. On the other side, Home Bay rebates around half of the commission back to the buyer.

Now, Home Bay is planning to bring its flat fee transaction services and title insurance offerings to its current states, with plans to expand beyond that.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.