Texas Investors Title
By: Steve Vallone
My partners and I had a title company in Houston for 28 years, and we sold it to Stewart Title in 2007. The conditions of the sale required me to run one of the Steward Divisions for 3 years, and when the time was up I decided to move to the Hill Country. The business model for the Houston company was to have a group of shareholders who were active in real estate, and would make their best effort to send business to the title company. The guys were developers, attorneys and mortgage lenders, and they were very loyal and productive. We made profits 27 of our 28 years. We use the same business plan for Texas Investors Title. Our owners are developers, attorneys, realtors and lenders. They make their best effort to send their real estate transactions to us, and if we make a profit then the owners get a dividend.
At first I thought I wanted to get a ranch near Kerrville, but had second thoughts about the distance from San Antonio. Boerne appeared to be a good compromise. I remembered seeing a billboard on I-10 showing a photo of the 16th green at Cordillera Ranch, and decided to check it out. Once I saw Cordillera, I was hooked.
It was a bit slow for the first two years, as we were competing against a very good title company that has been in Boerne for 116 years, and we were doing homes and ranches in the immediate area which is a limited market. We then changed our business model to reach out to some of my old customers and brought in some investors from Dallas and Houston that do large commercial deals. Then, our business took off like a rocket. During the 2013 business year we were involved in over $300 million in real estate transactions from Boerne to Charlotte, NC. It has really been a lot of fun, and either Becky or I hit the road to close deals wherever it is most convenient for the parties.
We are now competing against the best closing teams from the major companies in Dallas and Houston, and the enormous resources behind them. Some of the parties have wondered how a 6 person company from a town that nobody can pronounce ended up with some of the deals and clients that we now have. But when it comes to performance, we feel we can compete with any of them. We go to Houston and Dallas a lot, but I know that once I get the deal closed I get to return to Boerne, and that makes it worthwhile. We plan on doing the same things that are currently working for us. Our business mix is currently residential from Cordillera Ranch and northern San Antonio, ranches all over the state, and apartments and medical complexes statewide. At some point we may open branches in Dallas and Houston, but I would like to defer that as long as possible.
Being in Boerne has enabled me to find the perfect balance of a thriving business with a quality of home life. A short flight or road trip enables us to operate in major markets, but I get to come back to 6 acres in Cordillera. The competition is stuck in Houston or Dallas. I don't mind that a bit. Lately the legislature has left us alone, because there was nothing broken that needed to be fixed. We just hope that the Federal government will allow title insurance to continue to be regulated at the state level.
This article was originally published in the February/March issue of Company Magazine
