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🐐🧱Title Agencies: Busy Isn’t the Flex You Think It Is 🎙️
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🐐🧱Title Agencies: Busy Isn’t the Flex You Think It Is 🎙️

Why So Many Title Companies Are Working Harder—and Making Less

The title industry is working harder than ever… and somehow making this look normal. Files are flying, inboxes are feral, everyone’s “busy,” and yet margins feel tighter, stress feels heavier, and the solutions being pitched sound suspiciously like buy this tech and hope for the best. Somewhere along the way, modern title operations turned into a game of professional peer pressure—buy what everyone else bought, copy what the biggest shop is doing, and call it innovation. Meanwhile, outdated workflows quietly bleed profit, “efficiency” gets confused with speed, and no one stops to ask the uncomfortable question: Is any of this actually working? This conversation exists because busy is not the same as profitable—and in 2026, running your title business on autopilot is no longer a survivable strategy.

In this episode, Cheryl Evans, host of the Wicked Title Folks podcast, sits down with Nancy Gusman, founder of Brickhouse Consulting, for a grounded, no-nonsense conversation about what it actually takes to run a profitable, compliant, and sustainable title operation in today’s environment.

🎙️Listen to the Episode Above or 🎥Watch the Video

With nearly four decades in the title industry, Nancy brings historical perspective and hard-earned operational insight to a discussion that cuts through hype, shortcuts, and one-size-fits-all advice. Together, Cheryl and Nancy explore how the business of title has evolved—and where many companies are still stuck operating like it’s 1995.

This episode is especially relevant for title agency owners, managers, and operators who feel busy but not profitable, overwhelmed by vendors, or unsure whether their systems are truly supporting their business—or quietly draining it.

Topics Covered

  • 00:01:19 — Why many title companies are still operating the same way they did decades ago, despite massive changes in regulation, liability, and technology

  • 00:02:06 — How the definition of a “small” or “large” title company has shifted over time

  • 00:02:45 — The operational realities of in-person, mobile, and remote closings—and why business models must adapt accordingly

  • 00:32:59 — Why technology choices should be based on fit, not peer pressure or trends

  • 00:20:06 — The hidden risks of competing on price in title work

  • 00:20:31 — How quality, efficiency, and consistency actually differentiate agencies

  • 00:41:18 — Why improving efficiency and controlling costs often has a bigger impact on profit than chasing more volume

  • 00:38:56 — The difference between being great at title work and knowing how to run a title business

  • 00:40:45 — Common administrative and operational blind spots that quietly erode profitability

Key Takeaway

You don’t fix modern title problems with outdated workflows—or by buying every new tool on the market. Sustainable title businesses are built through intentional operations, disciplined decision-making, and systems that support both compliance and profitability.

About the Guest

Nancy Gusman is the founder of Brickhouse Consulting, where she works with title and escrow companies to improve workflows, strengthen operations, train teams, and design systems that reduce stress while increasing efficiency and profit. Her approach is practical, strategic, and rooted in decades of real-world experience inside the title industry.

Learn more at:
https://www.mybhexperience.com


🔒Members Watch Your Inbox!

The Wicked Brickhouse Guide to Auditing Title Operations is a practical, no-nonsense audit designed to help title companies uncover hidden risk, operational friction, and profit leaks before they turn into claims, burnout, or financial surprises.

This audit walks you through how your operation actually runs—file by file, handoff by handoff—so you can identify where assumptions replace verification, where work relies on memory instead of systems, and where liability quietly accumulates.

Inside, you’ll find:

  • A structured Title Process Reality Check to surface fragile workflows and single points of failure

  • A focused Risk Exposure Audit covering escrow, fraud, compliance, recordings, payoffs, post-closing, and policy issuance

  • Clear scoring to distinguish what’s stable, what’s risky, and what’s quietly failing

  • Plain-English questions that reveal problems without blaming people

This is not a best-practices lecture or a vendor pitch.

It’s an operational diagnostic built for real title companies operating in a modern risk environment.

If you’ve ever thought “we’re busy, but something feels off,” this audit shows you exactly where to look—and what to fix first.

🔓 Members Get it Free! | Not Yet a Member? 🔔 Upgrade Now Get Instant Access

Stay Wicked,
Cheryl


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