I closed on a home on this past Wednesday, only to find that the seller had gotten together with the closing attorney the day before, without any representative from my side present. Furthermore, I found out the seller had not turned over the garage door openers to anyone. (After some hassle, I am supposed to be getting them today, 2 days after the closing.)
It doesn’t seem quite ‘kosher’ to me, especially considering the seller didn’t actually turn over the property at the time she signed all of the documentation.
So, the GQ: Is it generally accepted practice that the seller (and/or representative) get together before the date of the closing & complete their end of the paperwork, without the buyer (or representative) present?
But when I bought my house, the seller was not present at closing - he had already moved to California. I signed the papers and handed over all my money, and then (if I recall correctly) the papers were faxed to him and he signed them. Everything was finalized right and tight within a week.
The fact that everything goes through escrow guards against wrongdoing, I think. Doesn’t it?
Nyeh. There’s no reason both (or either) need to be there. When I bought my old place in Virginia the sellers had already moved to Texas and gave PoA to their agent. Same happened when I sold that place seven years later. We were in Ohio and my realtor handled everything.
I’ve even heard of some where neither the buyer nor the seller were present at the close.
The last time I bought a house (and the only time I have bought one in the US), the seller was not present at the close – though reprresented by an agent, of course.
I was recently left a half-share in a flat in England, and the lawyer for the estate is disposing of it before sending the proceeds to my brother and me. I guess technically the estate owns the flat, but in any case there’s no way that I (or my brother) will be present at the close.
We bought our house from a divorced couple. A very unhappily divorced couple. The wife refused to be in the room with the husband, so she visited the lawyer’s office a few hours earlier and signed all the paperwork, and then we met with him at the signing.
He was doing his best to take the money himself and not give anything to the wife, but the lawyer put the kibosh on that.
Yes, indeed. All I’m saying is that neither party needs to physically be there. They can assign representation rights to whomever they want and be off to the islands if they so choose. If both sides do so then neither is present.
What happens in these closings? All three times I have purchased or sold a house the sellar would sign some paper work either at the title company or elseware and fax it to the escrow company. Then soon after the buyer would go to the escrow company and sign the mountain of paperwork involved in getting a loan and the the paper work for the house then they got the key. There is no need for both buyer and seller or their agents to be present at the same time.