Posted by Anonymous on 5/27/04 7:47pm
Msg #2400

Purchase vs. Refi.

I have done refi's to date. A title company has asked me to do a purchases. Help, what is the difference? Can I wing it?

Reply by sue on 5/27/04 8:29pm
Msg #2406

depends on your state but in my state (PA) you could not wing a purchase. there is a lot involved - sellers, buyers, sellers realtor, buyers realtor, sellers attorney, sometimes mortgage broker - once I had someone's parents. I get disbursement checks to disburse. I fax docs to the lender and wait for a funding number prior to disbursing the checks. The other day a realtor slid the HUD to me and said 'read off the seller's contributions for the closing costs'. you get termite inspection forms signed (these are usually provided by the realtor) you might have home inspection paperwork to get signed. there might be rent back agreements being drawn up while you wait. there might be escrw agreements for last minute repairs to the property. no, you don't actually 'do' any of this but you are coordinating everything because you are the eyes, ears, and hands for the title company. you need to be sure you collect the proper funds and they are in the correct form (certified, deposit checks signed over to the title company, etc). sometimes you might have to collect 3 or 4 checks. you also need to be absolutely in charge of everyone in the room. there is a lot of chit chat and chatter going on. the realtors might have some of their own paperwork to be signed and they will interrupt when they come up with something of theirs. when you do a refi, naturally the borrowers are the ones signing the paperwork but in a purchase, you must know who signs what if names aren't typed below the lines. again, a lot involved and not to be 'winged' because there is no 3-days to correct any errors - when you walk out of the room it's a done deal.

Reply by Brenda Stone on 5/28/04 7:21am
Msg #2451

Hi Sue. That helps me out.

I have recently been contacted by a title company, and agreed to do a purchase. The fee would have been a little lighter than I believe it should have been but I agreed to get the experience. Drawing on some of the comments here about eDocs and knowing how much of a pain they are I insisted on a three hour lead on the eDocs and quoted an extra $50 for each set of eDocs (would require seller / buyer so $100, is that about right?).

When they did not come through, and it was getting close to my deadline I gave them a ring. At the 3.5 hour mark I was contacted and was told they were not going to make my deadline so the schedule would be changed and I would be contacted later.

I emailed my contact later and thanked her, gave her my schedule and guess what....with one hour to go before the closing, they called me back and asked me if I would be able to do it. I did not. I am sure someone else took the job and I will probably not hear back on this one. However, there is no need in setting a policy that will change. It will always be hard to deal with eDocs if I don't keep my boundaries tight on needing two hours lead time (there was a good hour travel involved as well so that is why I asked for 3 hours preclosing deadline).

After reading your info, combined with the fact that I am told that Texas has one of the largest packages (in the US) for closings, I am really glad I did not wade off into it. I am always up front about the limitations of my experience to refis and HELOCs.

I have no regrets now. Thanks again. Brenda

Reply by Anonymous on 5/28/04 10:02am
Msg #2459

I've been astonished at the comments I've read on the time required for a closing: "Oh, I allow about the time it takes for a cup of coffee," or, "I never let a closing go beyond the time it takes to cook a three-minute egg." In Texas, you can expect a refi that goes perfectly -- where the title company has done its job and filled in names on the notary certificates, the borrower has no questions and wants no explanations, etc. -- to take an absolute minimum of 45 minutes. Yesterday, I handled a reverse mortgage with 152 pages of docs. It took two hours.

Conversely, I handled the seller's end of a California property transaction yesterday also. The deed ran two pages; in Texas 16 pages is standard. The entire packet was 25-30 pages.

But then, everything in Texas is always bigger, even if it isn't better.

Reply by Lawrence Goodwin on 5/28/04 10:53am
Msg #2460

Yeah Right!!! go OU, go OU, go OU lol

Reply by CA_Notary on 5/27/04 11:15pm
Msg #2423

I'd say just be up front with the title company, tell them you've only done refi's to date and ask them what the differences are. Better safe than sorry, and I don't the differences are too drastic that a 5 minute crash course can't get you up to speed.