I'm often asked what trends I see in the world of real estate, lending and title insurance.  I'm no expert in anything other than title insurance, but I can attest that real estate agents and lenders tell me that transactions are down for this time of the year.  Typically, closing rooms are booked for home sales in the Spring.  This Spring, it's a little light I'd say.  But for those people who are in the closing room, there is one hot trend in title insurance - GAP ENDORSEMENTS.  Many of the transactions today are short sales and foreclosure purchases.  Buyers would be nuts not to require this inexpensive endorsement to their title policy.  However, we cannot always give this endorsement.  Here is a link to an excellent post on Gap from the Knight Barry archives.  http://tinyurl.com/gapendorsement