And... a copy of your house deed? Just put that shit in a safe deposit box in a major bank far away from you.

I don't where the writers of NPR live, but usually the county courthouse keeps a record of all deeds. You should keep a copy of the deed for your own records, but any serious conveyance of real estate is going to involve a title company doing some research on the chain of title. It's not like a cartoon where someone magically owns the property when they get ahold of the deed.