The Closing Comes to a Close

As a closer of several houses, I have come to not-stress as much as I used to as the date looms. It's not the part about making a commitment to pay tens of thousands of dollars, or to accept them from somebody else. It's the actual event. The time I am trapped sitting at a conference table, making small talk while waiting to sign papers and have my driver's license copied. At least I know the layout of the abstract company where we have been closing our deals. The facilitator is kind and businesslike, and gets it over with quickly. And Hick and The Pony are there to draw any attention away from me.

Wednesday, I picked up The Pony, drove a couple miles back to the office, and waited for time to go in, or for Hick to arrive. A car parked behind me while T-Hoe was still rolling.

"Oh, no! I think that's Realtor behind us. I wonder if she wanted this parking space. I could pull up to the handicap space. But then I'd have to walk farther back to the steps to get to the ramp."

"You're fine, Mom." Just then a lady walked past the passenger side, and The Pony said (louder than I felt was necessary) "It IS Realtor!"

"Shh! She heard that!"

"Well, it IS her. So it's not like I said anything bad."

"Oh, no. I bet she sits in my chair! You know, because it's on the end. We haven't used a realtor before, but I bet that's where they sit. And the Abstract Lady at the other end."

"It will be fine, Mom. I'll hold your chair so it doesn't roll back when you sit down."

"I hope there's room for that against the wall..."

Hick drove up, and parked across the street. We all went inside. Abstract Lady was holding the door open for us. We went into the conference room, and indeed, Realtor was in MY seat! Not that she knew, of course. Most people don't go to these things often enough to have their own chair. I was able to get past Hick, already seated in HIS chair, and get situated with The Pony's help. Coincidentally, The Pony sat at the other end of the table, opposite Realtor. Abstract Lady sat across from Hick.

Abstract Lady summarized the pages, and showed where our signatures were needed. On the second form, I noted that my middle initial was wrong! "Oh, we'll need to change that. Here. I marked it out. Just write yours in, and initial." So I did. On all the forms! The Pony and I are sure the error was because Hick went by before they drew up the papers, and his chicken-scratch writing made it indecipherable. He DID say that Realtor had told him to sign my name to save time.

Anyhoo... when we were gathering the TEN-DOLLAR cashier's check from the bank, I had asked Hick if the amount due at closing had been adjusted for the $500 of earnest money he had put down with the contract when he started the title search at the Abstract Company. He said it was. He had called Realtor (who was at a doctor's appointment that day) to get the amount due. She had checked with Abstract Lady and gave him the amount over the phone.

Anyhoo... when we got to the page showing the financial details, such as who was paying the 2024 taxes due, and current utilities, I elbowed Hick. "Did you ask about the $500 earnest money?" He asked Abstract Lady if it had been included, and she said that it had. She pointed to that part on the form. Hick looked at it.

"But it shows here that it wasn't subtracted."

Abstract Lady looked again. "Oh. That's right. We'll cut you a check for $500 before you leave."

Then a discussion ensued about how the amounts are listed, with Realtor saying she always expects the final number in the column to be the amount due, but this form had the total in the next-to-last line, and then showed the $500 had already been paid. So it seemed an honest mistake, either in the writing of the form, or the perception by Realtor. Even my conspiracy theory mind does not suspect Realtor and Abstract Lady of running a scam to split an extra $500. I think Abstract Lady was a bit embarrassed by that little faux pas.

Anyhoo... Abstract Lady went to copy our IDs, and a set of documents for us. Hick chatted with Realtor, who said, 

"If you get your other property divided, I can sell those houses in no time! Especially the little one. So many people call about it. That's the one they see, on the main street as they go by. It's a cute little house. 

I'm from the era where you saved money for a down payment, and then got a loan to buy a house. These days, there are so many programs where you can get a house without a down payment. You wouldn't believe the number of people I get who want to put $100 down with me to make an offer, but then ask me if I can wait on cashing the check until their payday!

The thing with your houses is that no government loan program is going to loan anybody money with nothing down if there is a way for them to make money on that property. Like having a second house to rent. The loan is what's holding it up. With the houses having separate addresses, on different streets, I'm pretty optimistic that the city will let you divide them."

The things you learn! So that division process is underway, with a date of mid-January for the decision. 

Anyhoo... Abstract Lady came back with a little bag of goodies for us (sometime I'll give you a photo), and the best goody of a $500 check. The Pony and I went from there to Casey's, where I bought him that $500 winning scratcher. So I was instrumental in "earning" us $1000 that day!

It pays to roll with Val!