Key West Title Company

In its wrecking heyday in the first half of the 1800s, Key West was, by many accounts, the richest city per capita in the United States, and it earned that fortune from the sea, specifically from wrecking, the business of salvaging ships that foundered on the reefs offshore. An entire economy grew up around the question of what had washed ashore and who could lawfully claim it. That is a surprisingly apt origin for a place where, even today, real estate comes down to knowing exactly what you are buying and confirming that it is truly yours to take.

The southernmost city in the continental United States sits at the very end of US-1, closer to Havana than to Miami, and it wears its history openly. The Spanish called it Cayo Hueso, Bone Island; the wreckers gave way to cigar makers and spongers and, eventually, to writers like Hemingway; and in 1982 the island staged its famous tongue-in-cheek secession as the Conch Republic to protest a roadblock on the highway. The result is a town like nowhere else in Florida: pastel conch cottages, a fiercely independent streak, and a real estate market that is among the most expensive in the country.

A closing in Key West carries considerations the mainland rarely sees all at once. Much of Old Town falls under historic district rules that shape what an owner may do with a structure, and that is the kind of detail to understand before a purchase rather than after. The island's low elevation makes flood exposure and elevation a central part of owning here, with real consequences for insurance. And a large share of the market is second homes and vacation properties, where ownership is often taken through a trust or a limited liability company that has to be documented correctly. Through all of it, a careful title search confirms the chain of title and raises anything out of place, an old lien, an easement, a boundary question, as an exception in the title commitment, to be cleared before closing and backed by the owner's and lender's policies we issue through Commonwealth Land Title and First American. Before closing we walk through that commitment so each exception is clear to you in advance, and where a property is held through a trust or a company, we confirm the entity is in good standing and the signer is empowered to bind it. The title premium is paid once and protects your ownership for as long as you hold the property, against defects that predate your purchase.

Knowing precisely what you are claiming, and standing behind it, is the oldest work on the island and the heart of what a boutique, counsel-led firm does. Union Title Services has been closing Florida transactions since 1985, family-owned and led through the affiliated Law Offices of Thomas G. Sherman, P.A. We are based in Coral Gables and we close throughout Florida, the Keys included, so a Key West file is welcome work rather than an exception. Counsel-led means an attorney is part of your closing when a historic-district question or an entity's authority needs an answer, not a referral you chase down the highway. Because elevation drives both flood insurance and what an owner may build here, confirming the survey and the property's elevation early is part of avoiding surprises at closing.

Call our office and you reach the people actually working your file, with the lawyer in the same office rather than a distant call center. Whether you are buying a conch cottage in Old Town, selling a vacation property, or lending on either, we will confirm the record is clean before you sign. When a Key West closing is on the horizon, we would be glad to talk it through. Reach us at (305) 444-4508.