Hi, I am Beth with TB Properties Buys Land. In the past several videos we’ve discussed how to protect yourself from scam offer letters. Part of protecting yourself is having knowledge and understanding of how the process works so that you can ask the right questions to determine whether someone is truly trying to scam you or if they’re offering you a legitimate offer on your vacant land. While I cannot speak on behalf of all land investors, I can speak on behalf of TB Properties Buys Land. To review, we’ve gone through the process of selling your land in the past several videos, and today we’re going to discuss the closing process. To be clear, closing can look different for you than someone else because it may depend on your situation and your desire. One thing that you’ll find out is that you have an option whether you can close in-person, or you can close remotely. Most of the time when you’re buying a house, you go in person, you make an appointment at the title company and you sit down and you sign 50,000 pages it seems like, and you give them your down payment in a check form.
Or in the case of selling the property, you walk out with a check that you deposit right away and it’s very official, it’s very exciting. You do have the option of closing in person when you’re selling your land and making an appointment with the title company to do so. But what happens if you are living on the other side of the country or you’re living two hours away and it’s not feasible for you to drive in or you don’t wish to drive in? Your option is that you can choose to close remotely. The way that works is that the title company will ask you how you want your documentation. They can overnight you your closing documents in a packet or they can email it to you so that you can print it out, whatever way works best for you.
When it comes to selling your property, you have to get the deed to your property notarized. There may also be some standard affidavits in there that will need to be notarized as well. You can take all of these documents to your bank where they often offer free notary services. Otherwise, your local Pack/Mail type place may offer notary services for a fee. Oftentimes the title company will include a shipping label within the closing documents. That means that you can overnight the documents back for free and they receive your documents quickly so they can close faster. In this process, you can close remotely on your vacant land. You receive the documents, you go get them notarized, drop it at your local UPS or FedEx shipping station and then title company has it the next day.
It is important to understand that Title must await your documentation, your deed, and all your paperwork before closing. They must also wait for us to have our paperwork in and for our funds to clear. What that means is they need either a wire transfer from us as the buyer or a cashier’s check or bank check, which means that money is coming out of our account and it is going into their account. Only once they have real funds in their account from us, can they close. Title takes no chance that we’re going to write a check and it’s going to bounce, which is why only certified funds are allowed in a transaction like this.
If you come in to close in person, and if we’ve gotten our documents in and we have wired the funds the day before and you make your appointment to sign the very next day, most of the time you’ll walk out with a check in your hand, which is great. Now, if you close remotely, title’s going to ask you that question, “How do you want to be funded?” The options you can choose from is that they can overnight you a check written from the Title Company’s account that you can deposit into your bank the next day, or they can wire funds into your account directly.
Both are solid options for receiving your funding and it simply depends on your preference. If you schedule to close in person, oftentimes you receive your check right then, and if you close remotely, and get it wired or mailed to you. Hopefully this answers some of your questions. The thing about remote closing is that for some people, it sounds a bit scary. Do try to realize that people buy and sell property all over the country every day, and they don’t fly in specifically just to close. As such, title has made it convenient, but if you have questions or you feel concerned about that, you absolutely ought to feel comfortable calling the title company and speaking with the title agent. Be sure to ask them all of your questions, such as: “How does this work? What are my options? When am I going to get paid? How am I going to get paid?” You should be able to ask those questions and make sure that you get them answered.
If the real estate investor that you’re working with doesn’t want you to talk to the title company directly, if they’re being shady and not answering your questions clearly, to me, that would be a red flag. I think transparency is extremely important, and so here at TB Properties Buys Land, we make sure that you’re copied on all the communications between us and the title company. We make sure you have the file numbers so that you can always contact them with any questions. It’s just really important to us that you feel comfortable and that you feel in control of the transaction.
Here at TB Properties Buys Land, we purchase vacant land with cash. This means you’re not waiting for us to get a loan and get approved and all that good stuff. We close to a title company for your protection and for ours, and we make sure our contract is very easy to understand. But if you have questions, please feel free to reach out to us, give us a call, shoot us an email, go through our website. We’re happy to work with you, and we look forward to it. Thanks again.