Idaho has a lot going for it these days. Just ask Mark Tidd, CEO of Boise-based TitleOne Corporation, with 13 locations serving 14 counties throughout the state. From affordability to lifestyle, Idaho’s allure is attracting many out-of-state homebuyers, drawn by the promise of an all-around better quality of life. In this exclusive interview, Tidd shares just why Idaho is booming, and how his firm supports the rise in homeownership by playing a key role at the closing table.
Maria Patterson: First off, tell us how your career path led to your current role at the helm of TitleOne.
Mark Tidd: I had gone to work for a national construction engineering company right after school. They shipped me off to Virginia, then to the West Coast where I worked in the Bay Area. My wife and I were about to have our first son and we spent a lot of time thinking about where we wanted to raise our kids and decided to go back home to Idaho. I started subscribing to the Idaho Sunday paper and saw a job for a comptroller position at a small title agency. I then became the CFO of a larger title agency that was in the process of merging three regional agencies within Idaho.
One customer I had who was a partner in a large commercial brokerage firm asked if I ever thought about going out on my own. Six months later, I formed TitleOne. We opened for business in July 2000 with 17 employees.
MP: How has the firm grown since then?
MT: Over the 17 years we have been in business, with the recession right in the middle, we’ve grown from a single county title agency to a statewide title company. We serve 14 counties out of 13 offices with 220 employees. We joined Title Resource Group, a subsidiary of Realogy, in 2016.
MP: Tell us about growth in your state. Why are people moving to Idaho?
MT: The No. 1 reason is the quality of life. A lot of our lifestyle centers around recreation—skiing, hiking, mountain biking, world-renowned fly fishing, and more. Most of our migration comes from California and Washington. When you compare commute times to work here to those in Seattle or the Bay Area, there’s no comparison. Here, you have more time to do things, and great things to do.
The other big factor is affordability, starting with housing. We have so many people from other areas selling their homes and coming here and bringing cash to buy a house. Thirty percent of our clients are from out of state. You can get much more for your money here.
MP: Is Idaho prepared to accommodate this influx of new residents?
MT: Yes. In the last four to five years, we’ve seen a big increase in jobs. There was a period of time last year where we led the nation in job growth. A lot of large, privately owned companies have moved into the state. HP has its laser jet division based out of Boise. Micron Technology has its …read more
From:: Real Estate News