Information for Sellers

We will be happy to prepare the deed and lien affidavit on your behalf. Just let us know! If you have someone else prepare the documents, please have the attorney fax an executed copy to our office, along with the bill, and get them to the closing. If the Buyer has an FHA loan and you will not be attending the closing, you will need a Limited Power of Attorney allowing your realtor to sign for you.

Please be aware that even if the home you are selling is in your name only, your spouse must sign the deed to the Buyer. This is because under North Carolina law, a spouse has potential property rights in any real property a spouse owns, and those rights must be released when the property is sold. This is true even if you, the owning spouse, obtained the property before you were married or you inherited the property.

If you plan to attend closing, please bring photo identification with you. If a realtor represents you, your realtor will attend the closing and he/she can sign the closing statement for you.

Please be advised that if we are representing the Buyer, our legal duties as the closing attorney are owed primarily to the Buyer and secondarily to the Lender (if any). Although we are ethically allowed to prepare the deed and lien waiver on your behalf, we do not represent you. If you anticipate needing legal advice or representation in this transaction, please retain separate counsel.

You need to provide certain information to us prior to the closing. We will need contact information for all loans on the property (name, telephone number, and account number) including equity lines with zero balances. You also need to provide our office with your title insurance policy. If any of your loans are FHA loans, the bank must receive the payoff by the first day of the month or you will be charged another month’s interest. Also, keep in mind that your payoff will be higher than your principal loan balance due to the accrual of interest. If you have an escrow account for taxes and/or insurance, your lender will either deduct it from your payoff or refund it to you after receiving the payoff check (the usual situation).

North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit us from disbursing any funds until after the deed and deed of trust are recorded at the Register of Deeds. After closing, we update the title and record the documents; your proceeds check will then be available for you to pick up. We are committed to getting the deed recorded as soon as possible. However, there are circumstances that can delay recording. For example, we cannot record until we have received the Buyer’s loan funds and lenders often do not wire funds until after 1:00 pm. In addition, if the closing is on the last day of the month, as many are, we usually will only record once or twice during the day.

If you wish to have your funds wired to you, you will need to provide wiring instructions. The closing statement will reflect a charge for the wiring fee. We can also overnight funds. The closing statement will reflect a charge for an overnight delivery fee.

If you need the funds from your sale to close the purchase of your new home, it is advisable to schedule your purchase for the following day because of the possible delay in our being able to record and disburse the funds from your sale. If this is not possible, you will need your Realtor’s help to coordinate the two closings. As stated above, there are certain circumstances where even if you close the sale at 9:00 a.m., you still may not have your proceeds until the end of the day.

If you have any questions about the process, please feel free to call us!

Copyright © Judith M. Hauser, P.C., Attorney at Law, 2011. All Rights Reserved.