Now that escrow is opened, the paperwork begins in earnest!
Today, I received a fax from my agent of the earnest money deposit receipt. I also received a contract addendum that changes the name of the buyer from agent's name and nominees to the name of the agent's father, the actual buyer. This is functionally equivalent to assigning the contract but was done via a contract addendum rather than a separate assignment document. My agent also said she did not receive my signed agency disclosure and listing agreement that I faxed last week, so I had to re-fax those.
When I got home, I had a paperwork package from the escrow company waiting for me with more stuff to fill out:
- Proceeds Authorization - how I want my money from the sale delivered to me
- Seller's Escrow Information - data needed by the escrow company (any mortgages, any HOA, assessments, my social security number, etc.)
- Terms of escrow - the terms and conditions of escrow. This is standard legal stuff detailing the escrow company's role and duties.
- Notice of Title Policy Discounts - notification that I may be eligible for discounts on title insurance because I recently purchased title insurance when I bought the place.
- Checklist of things I need to do.
If past history is any indication, in addition to the above documents, I will probably need to provide a copy of the articles of incorporation of my LLC to prove I am the manager and am authorized to act on behalf of the LLC.
The title policy discount is a nice touch. I knew that if you got title insurance recently through the same company, you could get a discount, but this says I may get a discount even if the policy was purchased through another company.
And speaking of discounts, I need to make sure they give me investor rates. My agent told them , but I like to follow up myself to make sure.
7 comments:
Good job, Shaun!
And speaking of discounts, I need to make sure they give me investor rates. My agent told them , but I like to follow up myself to make sure.
While speaking to the escrow officer at our refi closing recently, I asked if they give discounts to investors. She told me that she would love to, but a few years ago, the insurance companies lobbied the legislature here on several issues. Piggy-backed on one (or more) of the issues was not negotiating fees for title companies. I haven't verified this, but when I speak with another title company, I'm definately going to ask. Just seems too suspicious, but, on the other hand, this IS Texas, and the laws here are heavily biased in favor of big business.
Wow.. what kind of crappy law is that?? If that is the law, I would go back and remind them that there is no need to negotiate. All they need to do is offer a two-tiered pricing structure - one price for investors and one for all other customers.
Two newbie investor friends of mine just moved to the Austin area. I wonder if they know yet that real estate investing in Texas is a whole new can of worms! They've got the high property taxes, legislation against lease options, and no bargains for titlework!?!? I once thought about purchasing commercial properties around the Dallas and Austin areas, but now I'm not so sure! Sheesh!
Holy cow! I guess this is what they mean about "Splogs" (short for Spam Blogs). Seems Shaun is getting hit with it.
Yeah, I got hit with a bunch of spam comments. Normally, I delete them right away, but I was stuck in a 2 hour meeting.
Shaun - I guess "negotiate" wasn't the best choice of wording on my part. The escrow officer said they can't do ANY type of pricing outside of their original offering to all clients. Again, I want to verify this with someone else.
Trisha - Yes, Texas is a tough state to do REI business in with the high insurance, high property taxes, and REI-UNfriendly laws. However, I think all this has gotten the ball rolling on a statewide lobbying effort for REI's here. I just hope it continues.
I've been getting the splog stuff, too! How annoying.
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