Teri, I know it will appear as though we are po-po-ing your idea out of the need to keep out competition.  But Loretta's post is correct.  Now is absolutely NOT the time to start an abstracting business.  I want to make the argument to you SOLELY on good business issues and not on any opinion as to your knowledge or training. 

Yes, it IS a business that can be run from home so it would SEEM to be a good idea because it doesn't require alot of overhead, but she is correct, the E&O insurance costs would be unmanagable right now.  You see, the same weak standards in lending that is partially responsible for this mess we are in (the other half was the people's fault for buying houses they KNEW they couldn't afford) also meant that the companies didn't really care WHO was doing their abstracting as long as it was fast and cheap.  The number of claims for errors has ski-rocketed beyond even MY imagination.  So, the insurance companies still offering E&O are becoming very selective and the rates for a NEW business would be insane.  Plus, abstracting requires driving to courthouses.  Gas is on the way back up.  So, owning an abstracting business requires output (E&O, gas, copies) prior to getting paid.  Many REALLY amazing companies are gone.  There are only a few (counted on two hands) national companies which pay on time.  So for every dollar you expend, by the time you have called and called to collect, you have made pennies. 

THAT'S if there is business to be HAD.  See, this real estate show down has many facets.  First, houses are not selling, so no titles need to be searched.  They aren't search until there is a contract on the house because titles have to be current to within 30 days of closing.  So titles are not searched just because a house is on the market (oh, if it were!).  Next, comes the issue of refinancing.  In the past, this time of year would be wonderful as all those idiots raced to refinance their homes to pay off their Christmas bills.  When equity is lost due to a down-turn in the market, there isn't any room for paying off bills.  Not to mention that lending standards are now stricter (read: normal) and not everyone who previously was able to refinance frequently is able to do so now.  So there simply aren't enough title searches being done.

So yes, part of our response to you is--we don't need anymore competition.  But the reality is, if I was GOOD at anything else, I wouldn't still be doing this.  I'd go get a JOB somewhere and come back when the market rebounds.  Please consider ANY other way for you to parlay your talents into self-employment.

Wendi