Alanna Denha’s journey into the title industry was anything but typical. After graduating from law school, Alanna started her career working as a lawyer at a medical malpractice law firm. After working with the law firm, the COVID pandemic forced her and her husband—a Real Estate Investor/Entrepreneur —to work from home. As they worked out of the same office, Alanna was inadvertently immersed into her husband’s real estate work—and she took an interest in what he was doing.
After a while, she noticed that her husband, Julian, was frustrated by the fact that he did not have control over the closing process for his client’s properties. One day, Julian brought up the idea of starting a title company of his own, since the title company would vertically integrate his businesses, a mortgage brokerage, and a real estate investment firm. Julian wondered if Alanna would be interested in helping. Alanna was intrigued. As a fast learner with a background in law, the idea was an easy decision for her—she answered with an inspired “yes.”
The realities of owning a title company seemed overwhelming at first. Where do you start? How do you find reliable, knowledgeable staff? Where can we get the training and support that we’ll need? The questions piled up. That’s when Alanna and Julian discovered Proliant Settlement Systems. Proliant provides extensive training and support to help their franchisees with every step of title company ownership. Not long after, Alanna was able to learn what she needed to know before talking to an underwriter and starting their own title company, Top Title.
Additionally, Proliant continues to provide title training and support to help franchisees be successful right from the start. “Proliant provided the training I needed,” Alanna said. “Since I’m new to the title industry, it was nice to have [Proliant’s] guidance to get Top Title up and running.”
In July, Alanna and Julian cut the ribbon and opened the doors to Top Title in Birmingham, Michigan. As the Operational Manager, Alanna handles the day-to-day operations at Top Title and manages all closings, scheduling, and refinances. Alanna is the one who goes over the title documents with a fine-tooth comb to make sure all documents are buttoned up and ready to roll on closing day. “With us starting our own title company [with Proliant],” Alanna said, “we are able to provide efficient closings for clients,” which was one of the biggest reasons Alanna and Julian started their own company.
Proliant’s On-Going Support
With Proliant, your title company franchise has an integrated support system before, during, and after you open your doors. Whether it’s a simple task or a complex process, Proliant offers training, consulting and supportive reference materials to help set up your franchise for success. At Top Title, Alanna regularly utilizes the support that Proliant provides. “I’m happy I was able to reach out for support when Top Title first opened. I use support to this day.”
Proliant also provides a secure IT infrastructure, allowing title company franchisees to focus entirely on sales and marketing. This allows Alanna, with the support of Estate Financial and Denha Hamama Investments, Top Title Group has been able to have great success for the number of closings they do per month. “With Proliant, I am able to work at the volume of closings I want,” Alanna says. “I’m hoping to reach 100 closings [per] month in the future.”
Alanna says that she has plans to expand her title company, Top Title. Currently, Alanna is working with Proliant to open additional Top Title locations around the state to add convenience for her clients. She’s even planning to expand Top Title to another state. And with her growth plans firmly in place, she’s already looking for more help at the office.
Top Title is a company that Alanna plans on running for a long time. And she pictures her title company franchise being something that will get passed down to future generations in her family. “I love working with Proliant!” Alanna said, “They are the reason I am able to expand and grow my title company and pass it on to future generations.”
Start Your Title Company Journey Today
For Alanna and Julian, what started as a mere suggestion—born of the frustration of how things should be and brought to reality by hard work, dedication, and a we-can-do-it-better attitude—quickly turned into a rapidly growing, successful business. With Proliant, you could be in the same boat.