Physical Title to Your Home

Real estate laws are state specific, so how “title” to real estate is held can vary from state to state. With that said, the way ownership of property or “title” to real estate is transferred, and therefore “held,” is typically by deed. Deeds transferring ownership are recorded and made a part of the public record, most often at the seat of the county government in which the property is located. The deed does not have to be recorded. But if not recorded an owner runs the risk of another claim to the property or lien on the property to take precedence over their rights to the property since the order in which deeds or liens are recorded, not when they are dated or notarized, determine their superiority.

Another advantage to recording the deed is that the original does not have to be presented to prove ownership since it is recorded in the public records. Due to the importance of recording the deed to a property in the public records to protect the owner's claim to ownership in the property, almost all deeds are recorded. After the deed is recorded it is returned to the owner of record. So it is not unusual for someone to have the deed to their property in their possession. If this is what you mean by “holding physical title to their homes,” then the answer is yes, people may have the original deed to their home (at least in some states). But it is a moot point since the deed is almost certainly recorded and the "physical title" also resides at the county courthouse.

One final comment. The “title” or ownership of the home is not in the home, but in the real estate to which the home is affixed. So strictly speaking homes are not titled. Chattel is titled. Homes are fixtures of real estate.