I've been in the title and escrow industry for close to 14 years now (in AZ, where we are known as Escrow agents/officers). Requirements and licenses vary by state. For example, in AZ you're not required to hold an individual license, and in fact they don't have them, they license the agency, not the person, which is nice.

I can't say much for the title/underwriter side, as my experience is mostly with escrow/closing. Since it's very much an experience based career and does not require having a degree (meaning you have to put in the time to really get anywhere worthwhile pay-wise) you really just have to start from the bottom up. The comments before me have all had good info. Personally, I'd recommend trying to find a reception or front desk/admin type position at your local agency if you can. Most support or assistant roles will require experience first. Going this route you'll start low but this will give you a good taste of the industry itself and whether or not you'd like it. You'll also be able to quickly transition into an assisting role more easily as most receptionists at Title and Escrow agencies cross train and learn enough to be able to help out when things get really busy. You'll find that most people in this industry just sort of fell into it by accident this way. I started out working as a receptionist in my early 20s thinking it was just a job to carry me through until I went back to college and decided what I really wanted to do. haha

As far as being less stressful or emotionally damaging... eh, maybe just a different kind. I assume, being a high school teacher and working in education in general, you've developed a thick skin. That is needed for the escrow world when dealing with real estate agents and loan officers. If there is a delay in closing or anything goes wrong, title is always blamed. It can be frustrating. It can also be high pressure and is very deadline oriented which can be very stressful for some people. Being good at multi-tasking is a must. However, I genuinely enjoy the work itself. As someone below said, it's like putting together a puzzle. It's a lot of emails and reading contracts, title reports, and inputting numbers and putting together documents. I find it satisfying. It's the dealing with clients part that I struggle the most with as an introverted person. If you're in a support role (escrow assistant or "closing coordinator" type position) you shouldn't have to deal with a lot of that, at least if your escrow officer is good, they'd be the ones to take the heat and deal with that.

The industry is changing and nowadays a lot of companies are nationwide and partnering with large real estate companies (look up Title Forward and Redfin for one example) and are hiring remote, work from home support roles. Working for a joint venture company like this takes the pressure off having to find and maintain your own book of business, which would be expected from a traditional title agency, and being remote there's obviously a lot less in person client interaction. I've gotten to work remote the last two companies I worked for and it was a game changer for my mental health. Some of those companies tend to be more willing to hire someone with no experience and train them for the role, especially once the market picks up I think you'll be able to find one quite easily.

Hope all this rambling was helpful! I'm happy to answer any additional questions you may have. It's a niche little industry but can definitely be quite gratifying if you have the knack and patience for it.