| 'With a little help from my friends (and family)'
Sometimes, getting on the right career path is a matter of gaining clarity on what you don’t want to do, although that may take time.
 That was the case for Bud Moscony, a 30-plus year title industry veteran currently serving as president of Inspired Title Services and Inspired California Escrow Services, both part of Taylor Morrison Home Corp.’s financial services division.
“When I started college, I had no idea what I wanted to do,” he tells The Title Report. “I got started as a biology major. That lasted about four months. I then spoke with the dean, on the advice of my father, and was advised to take up math, because it would be easy to transition into any of the other majors; but I found that I never changed after that.
“I graduated with the math major, but still didn’t know what I wanted to do. So, it was on to Temple for a stint in business administration, but afterwards I still didn’t know what I wanted to do in my career. Then, I got a chance to work with my dad.”
Bud began his title career with a summer job at his father’s Philadelphia agency, learning to do piece title search work and examining chains of title at the city courthouse.
From there he learned to close refinance transactions, residential transactions and ultimately national commercial deals. Bud secured a job at Land America (now Fidelity National Title) as a senior commercial closer and, while there, earned his law degree in an evening program while still working full time. Those efforts also carved a path to work as a real estate lawyer in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
“That early experience really exposed me to the real estate industry,” Bud says. “I got interested in title, with my dad’s help, and never looked back. My teacher during those nighttime courses was named Rich Angelo, and he worked as claims counsel for First American. He became my inspiration. I talked to him about going to law school, and he really set me on this path to learning the business inside and out.”
After a three-year stint in the real estate practice group of a mid-size Philadelphia law firm, Bud spent 10 years as counsel for a public builder, where he ultimately assumed the position of president of its title financial services subsidiary.
Bud serves as a board member of the Real Estate Services Real Estate Services Providers Council (RESPRO), a national non-profit trade association that represents member businesses who are vertically integrated throughout the homebuying and financing industry.
He also volunteers his free time with various community organizations including HomeAid Orlando, where he also serves on the board of directors.
 “Getting involved in the community is very important to me and, as the father of three daughters, so is working on diversity, equity and inclusion in our industry,” Bud says. “The construction industry and our industry have, of course, historically been very male dominated. My current boss, Tawn Kelley, is CEO of our financial services division and a leader in securing equal opportunities for all. She reminds me often that we hire the person first, the resume second. The CEO of our parent homebuilder, Sheryl Palmer, has also been at the forefront in creating a welcoming and diverse environment. Through the actions of these leaders, we attract a wide range of diverse team members. I am very confident that we have the most diverse company makeup among our peer group.
“We were one of the first to start out with DEI. It’s about creating diverse communities both with our organization and in the home our parents build. Our No. 1 focus is to love the customer, both internal and external.”
An avid golfer, runner and self-labelled tech geek, Bud likes to round out those hobbies with travel alongside his wife and high school sweetheart, Anne. Their family has grown to include four grown children and three grandchildren.
“When I graduated, everyone wanted to throw a party for me and I wanted to throw a party for my wife, because she was the one who raised the kids when I was at school and kept our house flowing,” he says. “She was just so great and is such a great supporter. We always try to set aside time specifically for us, but it was tough back when I had so much to learn. My wife helped me find peace with the fact that there’s only so much time each day, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up when you don’t get every single thing done you wanted to get done.”
In 2022, Taylor Morrison Home Corp. completed builds on roughly 12,700 homes with a 98 percent success rate for title insurance referrals in markets where Bud’s offices operate.
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"[My night class teacher] became my inspiration. I talked to him about going to law school, and he really set me on this path to learning the business inside and out."
Bud Moscony
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“The first part of 2022 was just crazy business, gangbusters,” he says. “Then rates shot through the roof and all of the sudden we needed to offer significant incentives just to get homebuyers to make the decision to buy. For Inspired Title, we had a record 2022, enjoying significant growth. We made $3.5 million more than the year before. We ran at about a 45 percent net profit margin. It was a great year.
“I think the first part of 2023 here is kind of status quo for us. Are we in a recession or not? I think we are for housing, with rates initially having ticked down for a bit, but recently increased again. We’re going to put in the necessary work to get through it like we always do. That’s what a great team does.”
After weighing in on the past and present of his career and the industry, Bud shares his thoughts on what the future has in store.
“For a while, I think the industry wasn’t very good at training the next generation, our successors,” he says. “I think there’s a focus on that now. There’s a whole bunch of young faces in our group who are great and really excited, very impassioned. You have to create a career path for them and share it with them. We spend a lot of time and energy on creating an environment where you can thrive and grow.
“Work-life balance is now huge, much bigger than when I started. The pandemic created a big part of that change. We found, after going fully remote, that our productivity shot up about 25 percent. Perhaps because people saved on the commute, or perhaps because they had the option to do other things during the day. We’ve now settled on a hybrid environment. But because we value that in-person experience, it’s still very important to adjust, to keep this great industry going.”
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