Navigating the Escrow Process with Tena Gronek (Part 2)
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Navigating the Escrow Process with Tina Gronik (Part 2)
[00:00:00] Let's talk a little bit about what fees you, the title agency charges for your services. What can a buyer and seller expect to see? So we charge escrow fees for both sides, and that is a fee for me to do those that work to order the HOA order, the payoff. Prepare the documents so that they can sign those at closing.
And so that fee is split between the parties. If there's a loan on either one, we have to add an additional fee. But that additional fee does include all wire, instruct, all wires in and out and things like that. So all mailings and stuff like that, you know, federal expresses UPSs, those are all included in those fees as well.
And then the, then the seller usually [00:01:00] pays the title insurance policy. That's the homeowner's policy, and that varies based on the purchase price. You know, and I should say the, we have a few underwriters that do our title commitments. For example, first American Title Insurance Agency, old Republic National Title Insurance Agency do work title.
I don't hardly use them, but they're there. We can use them if somebody really wants them. And so. Usually what I use is Old Republic or First American. First American I will say that is a little, little cheaper than most of them. But sometimes not. It's kind of funny. It's like, why is this one this little, yeah.
I'm not Well, and one of the reasons that I like to use Yavapai title, you guys do a great job, but you have multiple locations. I was just thinking that there's three [00:02:00] on the Verde Valley side and there's four on the Quad City Prescott side. I think we have eight total. So. Yavapai County. Yeah. I mean, and Yavapai County is the biggest county.
That's the county I work in, so that's why I like that they're spread all over where my clients are gonna be sellers or buyers. The other thing I like is that you guys do give discounts. You give discounts to, I work with a lot of veterans, so my veterans. Are getting a discount on their title fees. What other, they're getting a discount on their, their escrow fees.
I should be saying. You should be saying yes. Escrow fees. Okay. So yes, escrow fees. Tell me more about that. Okay. Okay, so we do give a discount for seniors military real estate. Anybody that's in real estate agents like yourself? Woohoo. Let's see, what else? Medical, a big three, um, teachers and, um, [00:03:00] yeah, medical, um, first responders, I guess that's what they call it.
Yeah. Service type. Um, so teachers, EMTs, police officers, firefighters, yes. Okay. Okay. They get a discount. Yeah. Okay. So those are two big ones. I think that's great because I mean, there are, most of these are all like they've served, they're serving our community or our country and I just think that it's great that you acknowledge that.
I'm trying to think what else. My clients are always asking me things. I'm like, I don't know. 'cause I don't do title. That's not my thing. I stay in my lane. I stay in the lane. So when we are like, okay, we're through the transaction. We know we're gonna close or, or even before we know we're gonna close.
Sellers oftentimes sign their documents, correct? Correct. Let's talk about that. So I, I prepare the, the documents, the warranty deed. Sometimes it's a special warranty deed, but 99% of the [00:04:00] time it's just a warranty deed. So the seller will sign those and I'll just hold it in the file until the buyers are ready to sign and close.
And then we can go ahead and. Have them sign with their loan documents all at once. And then get it closed. A lot of times, in fact, I just had one that canceled only because, you know, it was nothing. It was about the height of the driveway, the, oh, like they one of those steep driveways. Driveways and you know, it was gonna cost a lot of money to make break, break it down.
And the buyers said, no, we're not doing that. And so, you know, the seller had already signed everything. It was like ready to close and the buyer said, Nope, we can't do it. And so it canceled within the timeframe it could And buyers got their [00:05:00] money back, but I just, you know, threw away those.
Shredded those documents so that nobody would be worried about, oh, it got transferred anyway. Yeah, yeah. Accidentally transferred. Title, sorry. Oh, no. Yeah, yeah. That's why we shred. Yes, yes, yes. Shredding is good. So then. We're through everything you do you get the appraisal? I don't think you do, do you? I don't get an appraisal at all.
Ever from the lender? No. No, I didn't think so. So basically we're through everything, you've got all the documents, you know what compensation's gonna be for both agents. You've got all credits, you've got the HOA documents out, you know what that is. You know the taxes, the insurance, you've got all of that.
Then you call, and then I've got any invoices as well that need to come to me for payment at closing. So like, [00:06:00] the septic, any in a termite inspection that needs to be paid for. A lot times that be paid for. Sometimes the appraisal needs to be paid for, and all I get will just the, I'll just get the invoice from the lender on, on how much it is and who to send it to.
I mean, that's all, yeah. Things that need to be paid for before closing. Got it. I'm trying to think if there's anything. Yes. On a VA loan, usually they want that paid before we get to closing the the termite inspection invoice. But yeah, I've seen a lot of S in there. Other loans, they don't.
Yeah. Yeah. Other loans, they'll pay it at closing. They'll let you pay at closing. Yeah. You know the VA special. It. They are. They are special. I'm trying to think what else. I mean actually, if a vendor's willing to let it roll till closing, because sometimes [00:07:00] sellers need to do that because they don't have the funds to pay the vendor for the repair that has been requested and they've agreed to do, but it can't be paid till they close.
So that is, that happens. I know I've had roofing monies come through.
For like they're, they have to replace or repair the roof and that money's come through the closing. So when you get the clear to close, what happens then? What do you do with the lender to prepare for the buyer to come in and do their paperwork?
So the lender, sometimes I have to wait at the lender to prepare their documents and send them to me. Via a safe portal. And then once I get those documents, first thing I have to do is with the lender, is I have to balance with the cd, the closing disclosure statement with the [00:08:00] lender before they even prepare documents once.
Once the CD is balanced, then they'll prepare documents, send those over to me. I'll download them and print them, depending on if we need to have see them in person or if it needs to go to a notary. If it's a notary, I don't usually print them because a notary needs to get the right size. So sometimes if you don't, if you don't print them and just hold, save them in, in my documents, it's so much easier for that notary to print the correct sizes.
Lenders still do eight and a half by 11 and the 14 size for the deeds of trust. Don't know why they, it just needs to, makes it challenging. Okay. Makes it challenging. Yes, it does sometimes. So then I'll call the buyer and say, okay, I've got loan documents. [00:09:00] Let's go ahead and set you to sign and get you going and close on time.
The lender will obviously try to. They know the contract date, when the closing date is, so they'll work with you to make sure that those documents come and especially if they know that they have to be sent out to a notary, they'll do a couple days before, give them a few days to make sure we got a notary and they come back to me.
I have to have all original documents in my hot little hands to record, which means they got a FedEx them back to you. FedEx or UPS? Yes. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, I've been there. And that makes it more challenging sometimes because we've got a deadline and lenders aren't always that good at getting their documents out a few days ahead.
Now, I have had a lot more success lately with lenders being [00:10:00] ready to go, like my clients are clear to close. Days ahead. I'm like, that's pretty nice. Yeah. It makes it easier for those kind of things if you've gotta send stuff out to a notary and they've got a overnight it or whatever, but, and then there's no such thing as overnight anymore, I don't think.
yeah. Well, yeah, and that's the other thing. Sometimes UPS and FedEx, even though we send them, send the notary a, you know, a label that says overnight. What if that signing doesn't happen until three and the buyers take a long time and. Oh, the, the FedEx goes out at four 30 and they're not done till five.
It goes out the next day. Exactly. Sometimes even with overnight, it's two days. Exactly. Depending on where it's at. So, exactly. So we do have to give ourselves that extra space to do that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And then so the documents come back to you, however, you're in the office signing or they're [00:11:00] coming back from the notary, what's the next step that you have to do to keep this moving forward for buyers?
So for buyers, when the loan documents come back from the notary, if they've been sent out, I have to upload them to the lender's portal. The lender will then review them one more time, do another credit check for everybody. So seriously. Yeah. Seriously. Oh, I did not know that. Always a credit check before closing.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I always tell, I always tell the buyers, now, don't go, now that you've signed doesn't mean you can go out and buy that big boat or that new car. Wait until you close. Or your appliances. Or your appliances. Just don't do it. Don't do it. Yeah. I did not that. Especially if you're, if you're getting that on credit.
Yeah. Wow. Wow. So. They'll always do one more credit check before closing, after they receive the documents back. So [00:12:00] I did not know that. Well, that's good to know. And then, then, then they give you the clear to close. They send you the wire, and then I either wait for buyer's wire or you know, certified check, and then we close on the day of closing.
Once I hear from the realtors saying everything's good to go. I have to hear from those realtors on both sides. If it's a house saying, yep, everything's good to go, the seller's out, the buyer sign, we are ready to roll, record that document and everybody's good. Right? Record that transfer of title. We want them.
My client wants their house, my client wants to sell. They wanna move on, right? Yeah. So the last thing is the recording, right? Yes, we do our recording electronically, so we are literally tied into Yavapai County Recorder's office where we submit our documents online to them. [00:13:00] As long as we have the originals in our in our possession, I can go ahead and submit those online.
We do one more review. My title department does one more review of all the documents, make sure everything's good, the legal description's attached. The legal description's, right, if the lender put the legal description in their documents. So we wanna make sure everything's correct before we record and then we record once.
Once it's good. I love it. And then the next thing that you do is. We prepare the closing packages for you all and make sure dispersing the funds, those proceeds to sellers, those refunds to buyers, if there is any. And then I also call everybody to confirm. I call realtors to confirm that it's been recorded.
Yes. And then on home warranties, you guys don't wire [00:14:00] funds for home warranties. You write out checks, right. Yes. But lately we've been seeing that a lot of places are wanting to do a wire and so we'll do a wire form. Okay. If we left, I would, it, it actually speeds up that whole process because otherwise, if you have to mail out a check to these home warranty companies, the buyers are in their house and the, the, the check's in the mail, as they say.
Yeah. So if they're in their house in the first week or so, they, the home warranty. They haven't, it's in effect, but they haven't got the money yet sometimes. Right. You know, they're not all that fast at acknowledging it even when it shows up. And the problem with the, the home warranty companies is they don't always give you wire instructions.
They just give you an address. Right. So, right. Which is weird because they have people a CH all the time online. Mm-hmm. You can just go on, but we can't do a h. You can, we, we cannot do ACHs. We, we [00:15:00] send wires. Only wires. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I'll have to work on that because it just, I know that that's one of the things that we've run into is, well, the home warranty company doesn't have the money yet, so I'm like, oh my, and I've also had where the home warranty says they don't have the money, but then I check my 'cause I can check to see what checks have been cashed.
That check has been cashed. So somebody cashed that check at that warranty, somebody deposited that check somewhere. Exactly, exactly. I know, I know. But these are all, you know, make mistakes happen. Yeah, exactly. Well, and it's funny 'cause I always think at the end, and, and, and I try to have my clients understand this, that you are the person who just.
Distributes all this money. So you've gotta go through and, you know, pay the sellers their money, pay lenders their money. You know, if there's a loan, current loan on the property, you've gotta mail out the check for the home [00:16:00] warranty company. You gotta pay the vendors that haven't been paid that are waiting for their money.
And then you send out money to the agents who've been involved. And as you said, sometimes the buyer gets a refund. Do they get a check or do you wire that Usually? They get a check, usually a check right At closing? Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. Cool. So, I mean, I, I always say, you handle all the money. I don't touch the money.
I tell people, yeah, we're the fiduciary in this whole thing. Right, right, right. I have fiduciary responsibilities, but you do as well and you're as involved mostly the money. Like the money handling of the money handling of the money. Just the money. Well, and it's funny because some of my clients remember, and they were buying, selling maybe their first homes back when they used to give a check to their agent for the type, for the earnest money.
And I tell people, don't give me a check. I don't want your money. I don't touch the [00:17:00] money. They're like, really? I mean, I always do this in the past. I go, no, no, no, no. Don't gimme the check. And number one, don't give me the earnest money until you're under contract. Like I'll write you a check right now. I'm like, no, you're not under contract.
And we don't want the earnest money until you're under contract. And then it's best if it goes right to the title agent. It shouldn't go into your real estate agent's hands ever really? 'cause that's, that role has been eliminated. I, I agree with that, but it still happens. I know, unfortunately, I think I've done it once for somebody and it made me very uncomfortable.
Yeah. I don't wanna, you know. Yeah, so just just so people know, you can wire the money, you can do the little phone, sh bank shot. You can drive to the office and give them a credit card. You can give them cash. I always say you can use ca. You can't do cash, but you can do a check check. [00:18:00] Money order or money order.
Mm-hmm. So I just say they, they make it easy, but just don't give, and some people can I just give them cash? I'm like, no, please don't bring in money. Yeah. And under my pet, no. And under, and nowadays a lot of people wanna use their A CH and we don't accept an A CH. Ah, okay. Do you do debit or credit cards for that?
Yeah, no, that's what the A CH is. Okay. So basically you can wire the funds. Regular check, cashier's check or a money order, right? Yes. Okay. Okay. Yeah, so we've, we've talked about the transac, so is there anything that I missed that you think it would be, or you're like, I really wish you would've asked me about this.
Is there any like, final thoughts that you'd like us to have? She's looking at her notes. Good girl. Did I miss anything? I'm looking at my list here and I, I don't feel like I did.[00:19:00]
Yeah, I, I think we're good actually. I think we talked about vesting. Yeah. I think we're talked about everything we needed to talk about. Okay. That you Wonderful. Told me we wanted to talk about. Okay. Alright. Well, and like I said, title. The title stuff is like a whole nother conversation. The title stuff could be at least an hour to two hours long.
I know. It's crazy. I, I'm just starting to really get my head around that. So I am going to, if you're okay with this, I'm going to include your. Contact information below in the YouTube channel so people can reach out to you by phone, email, or you know, write you a letter where they know where you are. And I appreciate you taking time today to do this.
It helps me help you and vice versa. I just really want people to understand. Buying and selling homes. It's a, it's the biggest investment people will do. Most people, it's the biggest investment of people's lives. Yes. Yeah. So I want them to be informed. I want them to be [00:20:00] educated. I want them to be confident in understanding what is gonna happen when they start this.
So thank you for your time. I appreciate you very much. Thank you, Tina. Oh, you're very welcome. Thank you for having me. You bet. Have a wonderful rest of the day, dear. Okay, thank you. You bet. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
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