Closing questions

[nomogy_IHB]

Hi All,

I have two questions.

1.) Why does seller has contingency of possession of property is closing of escrow + 1 day?

I thought that the possession of property should be given to buyers at the day of escrow closes.

2.) Why does sellers prefers their choice of title and escrow company?

Thanks in advance.

- Nomogy

 

[IrvineRealtor_IHB]

Hi All,

I have two questions.

1.) Why does seller has contingency of possession of property is closing of escrow + 1 day?

I thought that the possession of property should be given to buyers at the day of escrow closes.

2.) Why does sellers prefers their choice of title and escrow company?

Thanks in advance.

- Nomogy

1a. Possession of property is not a contingency of sale, but rather a condition of transfer and is negotiable in the initial terms of your contract, bottom of page 1.

1b. COE+1 is not abnormal, and is even extended to COE+3 commonly in OC.

1c. Ideally, transfer should take place on the date the property is recorded in the new owner's name, but in real life it takes some time for the last owners to get out, and hopefully clean behind them (also negotiable in your terms, hint, hint.)

2. Sellers typically select choice of title and escrow company because it is traditional. Services often put a good deal of time and $$$ into the transaction before it goes into escrow (preliminary title is run to see if there are any ownership conflicts, easement issues, etc, and they also sponsor much of the "luncheons" and advertising that goes out on behalf of the listing brokerage. Good listing agents get preferential treatment (files handled expeditiously) from escrow companies that they have good relationships with.

3. Your next question - "Which is the best and cheapest?..." is difficult to answer. For title insurance, a comparison site is here: http://www.clta.titlewizard.com/default.aspx. For escrow, there is no such site. You will have to call around and ask.

Good luck, and your buyer's agent should have these answers for you, as well.

-IR2

 

[nomogy_IHB]

Thanks lot IR2, I appreciate your time to answer questions in detail.

- Nomogy

 

[IACRenter_IHB]

Hi All,

I have two questions.

1.) Why does seller has contingency of possession of property is closing of escrow + 1 day?

I thought that the possession of property should be given to buyers at the day of escrow closes.

2.) Why does sellers prefers their choice of title and escrow company?

Thanks in advance.

- Nomogy

1a. Possession of property is not a contingency of sale, but rather a condition of transfer and is negotiable in the initial terms of your contract, bottom of page 1.

1b. COE+1 is not abnormal, and is even extended to COE+3 commonly in OC.

1c. Ideally, transfer should take place on the date the property is recorded in the new owner's name, but in real life it takes some time for the last owners to get out, and hopefully clean behind them (also negotiable in your terms, hint, hint.)

2. Sellers typically select choice of title and escrow company because it is traditional. Services often put a good deal of time and $$$ into the transaction before it goes into escrow (preliminary title is run to see if there are any ownership conflicts, easement issues, etc, and they also sponsor much of the "luncheons" and advertising that goes out on behalf of the listing brokerage. Good listing agents get preferential treatment (files handled expeditiously) from escrow companies that they have good relationships with.

3. Your next question - "Which is the best and cheapest?..." is difficult to answer. For title insurance, a comparison site is here: http://www.clta.titlewizard.com/default.aspx. For escrow, there is no such site. You will have to call around and ask.

Good luck, and your buyer's agent should have these answers for you, as well.

-IR2

Hi IR2,

I always felt uncomfortable about COE+extra days. Isn't it true if escrow closes then any damage done by sellers during post escrow period will be at the expense of new owners. Also, what recourse will the new owners have if sellers do not move out by agreed date? Once the sellers get the money from escrow, there seems to be little economic incentive for them not to screw you.

I know one alternative is charging rent for the extra days and having the sellers sign a rental agreement. Has anyone done this?

Also, if the seller needs more time to move out after contingencies are removed why not just extend the length of escrow rather than offer COE+extra days?

 

[irvine2010_IHB]

interesting Q, how about if buyer put a contingency that house must be completely vacated before the escrow so that any kind of damage can be avoided.

 

[stepping_up_IHB]

At one point we were looking at a house that was inherited by the two sons. One of the sons lived in the house, the other wanted to sell it. After about 5 years and going to court, the son not living there was able to force the sale. The son living there was really strange, not happy at all about the house being sold and had been letting the house fall apart. The listing agent said that they would only accept an offer that said the place must be vacated 15 days prior to close of escrow. The son who wanted the sale to happen wanted to make sure his crazy brother did move out.

 

[bltserv_IHB]

At one point we were looking at a house that was inherited by the two sons. One of the sons lived in the house, the other wanted to sell it. After about 5 years and going to court, the son not living there was able to force the sale. The son living there was really strange, not happy at all about the house being sold and had been letting the house fall apart. The listing agent said that they would only accept an offer that said the place must be vacated 15 days prior to close of escrow. The son who wanted the sale to happen wanted to make sure his crazy brother did move out.

This is a quick thread jack.

This sounds familiar. My mom passed away last February. Leaving a house thats paid for in Culver City. My Brother is camped out in it and now my sister too has moved in.

The glory of living in a home for nothing.

Mom left no will or trust. Now I want to get this estate into probate and get rid of the home.

Its in really bad shape. My brother too has neglected any repairs or maintenance in many years. Thinking of doing the Probate myself. But my wacky brother

is never going to sign anything. He thinks he should be able to live for free and gets

very angry when I even mention the probate process to him. At least my sister has the brains to pay the property tax. What a mess. Thanks Mom.

 

[irvine_home_owner_IHB]

Hi IR2,

I always felt uncomfortable about COE+extra days. Isn't it true if escrow closes then any damage done by sellers during post escrow period will be at the expense of new owners. Also, what recourse will the new owners have if sellers do not move out by agreed date? Once the sellers get the money from escrow, there seems to be little economic incentive for them not to screw you.

I know one alternative is charging rent for the extra days and having the sellers sign a rental agreement. Has anyone done this?

Also, if the seller needs more time to move out after contingencies are removed why not just extend the length of escrow rather than offer COE+extra days?

When we sold our house... we did COE+3... and was told that was actually standard now. The reason being since escrow can really only close on a weekday... you can close on Thursday or Friday... and still have the weekend to move out. Most people don't want to extend escrow because that opens up the possibility of falling out etc etc.

I think there should be some type of recourse if something else happened with the house that was not noted on final walkthrough or the inspection. Even though the escrow closed, the contract is still binding regarding seller responsibility... but that's an IR2 question.

We rented back our place for 3 weeks after COE... in that timeframe we moved out and cleaned the house... leaving it better than the previous owners did than when we bought it. It just depends on how responsible the seller is because you don't want to mess with karma... or litigation (heh).