Seller Signing 101: The Easy Part
/YOU MADE IT. 🎉
After preparing, marketing, showings, negotiating, inspections, appraisal, repairs, packing, and moving...
You get to sit in a conference room and sign your name a bunch of times.
Seller signing is usually pretty uneventful - and that's exactly how we like it.
Plan on about 45 minutes or less, and then you're free to carry on with your life while we wait for the buyers to officially close.
The Seller Signs. The Buyer Closes.
This is the biggest thing I want you to understand:
Your signing appointment is not necessarily the moment your house is officially sold.
I like to say:
The seller signs. The buyer closes.
Sellers often sign their documents before the buyer's actual closing. Your signing gets your side of the transaction ready so everything can move forward when it's time for the buyers to complete theirs.
So when you walk out of the attorney's office, don't start throwing confetti quite yet.
We're almost there.
What If We Don't Have the Final Numbers Yet?
This happens, and it's okay.
Sometimes the final settlement numbers aren't available when you sit down to sign. Rather than making you come back for another appointment, you can typically authorize the closing attorney to sign the final settlement document on your behalf via email once those numbers are available.
But nothing is finalized without your authorization.
You'll have the opportunity to review the final numbers and approve them before the attorney moves forward.
No mystery math happening behind your back. 😉
What Do You Need to Bring?
This part is easy:
Bring your government-issued photo ID and your bank information so the attorney has what they need to wire your proceeds.
And because wire fraud is very real, make sure you're following the attorney's instructions for securely providing and verifying that information.
That's pretty much it.
See? I told you this part was boring. 😂
Two Tiny Moving Details People Forget
Before you completely close the book on your old address, there are two things I want you to do.
First, contact your mortgage servicer and give them your new mailing address. If there's money remaining in your mortgage escrow account after everything is settled, we want that refund finding you - not your old mailbox.
Second, update your address with Amazon, including any subscriptions or recurring deliveries. Those may need to be updated individually, so changing your default shipping address isn't necessarily enough.
Because nothing says “Welcome to the neighborhood!” like your buyers receiving a six-month supply of your protein shakes. 😂
When Do You Get Your Money?
You won't necessarily walk out of your signing appointment with the proceeds from your sale.
Once the buyer closes, the buyer’s closing attorney handles disbursement. You can generally expect your funds to be distributed within two business days after the buyer closes, +/- any banking holidays.
So remember: we're counting from the buyer's closing - not your signing appointment.
Extra Credit: Return My Traveling Circus 😂
This is absolutely not a condition of selling your house, but you will earn major bonus points if my marketing kit is waiting for me before we part ways.
That includes anything I left at the house, such as my marketing binder, bootie trash can, extra booties, bootie basket, door hanger, and acrylic stands.
Basically, if you look at something while you're packing and think:
“I feel like Crystal owns this...”
Please don't take it to your new house. 😂
The Big Picture
Seller signing should feel wonderfully anticlimactic.
Bring your ID. Bring your bank information. Sign the paperwork. Review and authorize the final numbers when they're ready. Update those last few accounts.
Then we wait for the buyers to close.
Once I get confirmation that everything is officially done?
THEN we throw the confetti. 🎉