how important is it to have an abstract of title, wwhen the buyer is purchasing owner's title insurance and will receive a warranty deed.
should the seller provide the abstract of title?

Thanks in Advance

nana-san: I believe you mentioned the property is in the Tug Hill region. Most of upstate New York abstracts are used as evidence of the chain of title and to search for open mortgages or other issues. Typically Title Insurance is issued based on a Title Company having done the same research (sometimes referred to as a "stub search") of the property's history but without compiling it in to the document called an Abstract of Title. If an Abstract of Title is provided when the property is purchased it only needs to be continued from that purchase date to whenever it is sold in the future. This saves considerable cost by not having to start fresh compiling a new abstract when the property is eventually sold again.

Agree but be careful.. often buyers are offered Title Insurance or Abstract of Title. You are safer with Title Insurance alone than you are with Abstract of Title alone. Title Insurance is insurance, Abstract of title is an opinion and very difficult to claim damages against if a problem later is discovered. Both is good if the cost is reasonable but don't expect the seller to pay both when they often pay for the Owners Title Insurance fee.