retrieving type id based on family name

I have to retrieve the type id (typically returned by Element.getTypeId()). The only info I have is a family name and there does not have to be an instance loaded into the project.

I manage to find the family (at least that's what I think I'm getting) by the following code

List<Element> families = new List<Element>(
                new FilteredElementCollector(doc)
                .OfClass(typeof(Family))
                .Where<Element>(e => e.Name.Equals(search_name)));

but when I then try the following code it just returns a type id with value -1

families[0].GetTypeId()

I think this is mainly due to my lack of understanding of revit but no amounts of google searches seems to bring me any closer to a solution to this, it shouldn't be that hard right?