Closing Guide - Sellers

Frequently Asked Questions

My Offer Was Accepted, And We Signed Our Contract. What's Next?

I have an executed contract, now what?

You, or your agent, should send a copy of the contract to us, as soon as possible, so we can begin working on your transaction!

You have my contract, what is the next step?

We will contact you to have the initial discussion regarding your transaction. Some standard questions would be, are you married or single, do you have an open mortgage, your social security number, and are there any other liens we should know about? These are a few common questions.

No worries if you are unsure, the buyer's representative will send requirements for us to complete prior to closing.

What do I have to do to get to the closing table?

As the Titled Owner of the property, or “seller” it is part of the contract you signed to provide clear title to the buyer. A Title Search on the property will be performed, this will, in essence, create a “list” of things you will be required to complete so Title Insurance can be issued on the property.

Hopefully, when you bought the property, your seller did it for you.

Why do you need my Social Security Number?

There are various reasons your personal information is needed. Don’t fret, your information is safeguarded in a highly protected program and we will never share or sell your information to a third party.

  1. We are required in Pennsylvania to run a “Child Support Lien” report, regardless if you have children, or your children are grown, it is a requirement to issue Title. For this, we need your social.
  2. Sometimes, common names come up with a Bankruptcy, even if you have never filed for one, we would have to compare it with your social to clear it, unfortunately your word won't be enough.
  3. Some judgments can only be cleared by your social.
  4. A USA Patriot Act is run on all parties of a real estate transaction. If a name similar to yours comes up, we would need your social to clear it.
  5. Lastly, it is required to complete the transaction.

What is next after we obtain the necessary items to clear the title?

If you are local, our office will schedule a time to meet and go over the required documents needed to complete the transaction.

I moved and no longer live locally, how do I sign my closing documents?

Good news, you have options!! Our office can coordinate a mobile notary to come to you. This is an extra charge in addition to your closing fees.

We work hand-in-hand with a Certified Mobile Notary Company.

If you have access to your own notary service, you can schedule to meet with them.

I want to use the mobile notary service

Excellent choice! When choosing to use the mobile notary service, we place the order on their secure site. They find one of their certified notaries in your area, and then they are assigned.

The assigned notary will contact you to schedule the date, time and location of your choice.

Once you have the notary scheduled, we upload your documents to their secure portal, they print, bring the documents to you, the signing occurs and then they scan them all into the secure portal. Once they are uploaded into your specific file, they are reviewed and approved to ship back to us.

That’s it, done!

What if I have my own notary?

No problem! You still have options.

We can email the documents to you to print, take to your notary and sign. After signing we do require a scanned copy to review prior to shipping them back. This allows for us to address any errors prior to sending the documents back and saves time.

For shipping, you can use a facility of your choice, but the documents must be trackable. We require a copy of the tracking so we make sure your closing is seamless and ON TIME!!

Don’t want to worry about it, we can also supply you with an overnight label, which is an additional charge. We use UPS for our shipping needs. If you are not close to a UPS, we understand!

What if I don’t have a scanner?

That is okay, we can work it out. UPS stores have the ability to scan and email right from their office locations.

Not close to a UPS, we will figure it out!

You have my executed documents, what do you do with them?

Our office calls this holding in “Escrow”. Your signed documents stay in your file until the closing is scheduled and we obtain (or wire confirmation) of your closing proceeds. At that time, we will turn the originals to the buyer’s title company.

What happens after the documents are given to the buyer?

We have completed the transaction, and your proceeds are provided to you in the form you choose! Congratulations, you did it!!

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