When The Sale of a Home Closes, It's an Anxious Day

[MineralMan]

Patience is needed, but can be hard to come by. If you haven't done this, it's good to know what happens:

The closing on the sale of our previous home happened today. It has been almost 20 years since we sold the home we owned in California, so I had forgotten how much anxiety that event creates.

As is typical, there was one more form left to sign that had been forgotten by the title company. So, we signed that, scanned the signed document, and sent it back to the title company as a pdf file. While it used to be that both seller and buyer were present at the closing, COVID-19 has ended that practice. Instead, we pre-signed the many documents earlier in the week, with the buyer being the only person at today's closing.

Then, of course, money changes hands, all electronically. First comes the money from the buyer's lender, sent to the title company's escrow account. After that the seller gets the proceeds wired to the seller's bank account and any mortgage the seller had on the property gets paid off with another wire transfer. Other fees get paid to realtors, broker, the title company, the title insurance company and probably others.

For the seller, the nervousness comes from watching a bank account website to see the deposit from the proceeds show up, along with watching for the mortgage pay-off to show up at the company that holds the mortgage. The deposit of the proceeds shows up within an hour or two, but the mortgage pay-off can take a couple of business days to show up in your account records.

However, contacting the mortgage holder's customer service number a couple of hours after the pay-off has been wired can ease the anxiety. When I called, mine said, "We have a pending pay-off wire from today showing in your account. Expect the principal balance to disappear from your account by Monday." That's good enough for me. Don't hesitate to contact your lender to make sure the wire transfer arrived.

It's a huge relief to see our previous house sale close for real.

[PJMcK]

1. Good for you, MM

I’ve been there, too.

Great good luck in your new home!

[cornball 24]

2. Sold our second home in Cape May, NJ October 2020. It was heartbreaking for me as I

loved the place. I fortunately had an epiphany while there prior to listing it in that it had become way too much work for us. As my husband became ill last winter and passed in September, it was the time for it to happen. I could not have handled all that selling required while taking care of my husband. We had many happy memories there so I shall hold onto them. Happy all went well for you.

[MineralMan]

5. Thanks. It was time for us to downsize and rid ourselves

of landscape maintenance and snow removal. Generally, I hate HOAs, but the one in our development is pretty hands-off and the monthly dues are low. So far, so good. Townhome living agrees with us.

[mnhtnbb]

3. Uneventful closing on the sale of a house

where everything proceeds as it should is to be celebrated! Congratulations!

The last house I sold in 2018 resulted in a week of stress and anxiety. My estranged husband blew his brains out (not on the property) exactly one week prior to closing. For 24 hours I was on pins and needles waiting to hear if that would also delay the closing or give the buyers a reason to back out. All the attorneys agreed that due to the way we held title, ownership immediately passed to me and would not be subject to his Will.

My realtor attended the closing at the office of the attorney for the buyers. He told me I should see the proceeds hit my account by late in the day or the next morning. Well, 10 am the next day, the proceeds--all cash--had not reached my account. I called the attorneys office and was informed they wouldn't wire the funds until I confirmed verbally what I had already provided in writing to them. No one at no time had given me those instructions. Verbal approval? WTF? Since when does an attorney release funds on verbal authorization? The funds hit my account that afternoon.

Apparently sellers have been scammed out of wired funds here in NC. When I followed up with my realtor, he told me he knew of several sellers who had lost money because of wiring scams, one couple lost $100K.

So, if anyone is selling, check to find out what precautions are being employed by the closing attorney (who is selected by the buyer generally in NC) to prevent wire fraud of the proceeds from the sale.

[MineralMan]

4. Wow! That must have been traumatic, to say the least!

We got a call from the title company to confirm the wire transfer. Apparently, that's a newish thing. It's a good thing, though, if it helps to prevent wire frauds. I had to confirm the routing and account numbers for the transfer. Fortunately, I had those numbers printed out, so I didn't have to hunt for them to verify that the money was being sent to the right account. I also checked to verify that the mortgage pay-off was going to the right account.

Good advice, for sure!

[cachukis]

6. Just bought a condo, here in Florida. New wrinkle.

Buyer has to prove to lender that the condo is in good hands. 5 page doc regarding real estate, units, management, insurance et all to insure that you are not buying risk. New approach after calamity in South Florida. Word to wise, $400.00 before closing.

[MineralMan]

7. Good info!