Yes, absolutely. These are two of the most important parts of buying Oahu real estate. You never want to be without either, even if it means that you must pay the charges.

The title insurance company does a title search. It looks backward along the chain of ownership of the prop­erty you are buying. It can reveal vital pieces of informa­tion. For example, it confirms (or denies) that the seller is, in fact, the true owner of the property. It also exposes any liens or judgments against the seller, or anyone else that may have been placed on the property. In short, it tells you the condition of the title to the property you are buy­ing. The title insurance guarantees that you're getting good clear title.

Title insurance, however, won't be issued until any "clouds" or items affecting the title have been cleared up. For example, the sellers may have failed to pay off a loan at some time in the past, and the lender secured a judg­ment against them and then recorded that judgment as a lien against the title. The sellers must now remove the lien in order to give you clear title.

Or perhaps there's some confusion about the names of the sellers. The title is recorded in a slightly different version of the sellers' names. This too must be cleared up.

Almost anything can cloud a title. The sellers may have contracted for some work done to the house, and there was a dispute with the contractor, who filed a mechanic's lien. The government can file a lien for unpaid taxes. There might even be a lien incorrectly filed against a former owner of the property. All of these must be cleared up before you can get good title to the property.

It is normally the job of the sellers to clear the title. However, some gentle encouragement occasionally given by the buyers can sometimes help. 

Beyond the standard form of title insurance issued by title companies, they can also issue a more comprehen­sive form called an ALTA (American Land Title Associ­ation). Here the title insurance company actually sends someone out to the property to confirm that the house is properly on the land and that it's not situated on someone else's property and that there are no other apparent phys­ical defects. Generally, most lenders require an ALTA. It protects them, not you. But, you must pay for it, if you want the loan.