if you're a first-time homebuyer or
maybe you're moving to North Carolina
from a state that doesn't require
closing attorneys you're wondering what
does a closing attorney do
I'm Tiffany Weber I'm a real estate
attorney at Thomas & Weber and I'm going
to explain that to you today
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in North Carolina closing attorneys
represent buyers the exception to that
is for commercial closings where each
party has their own attorney but we're
going to focus today on residential
closings so you're buying that home or
you're moving here for your job and you
want to know what we do for you
first things first once both parties
have signed the contract to buy and sell
the home it's sent to the closing
attorney we take a look at it and then
we get to work the first thing we do is
we conduct something called a title
search and here the most important thing
we can do for a buyer is make sure there
is nothing standing in the buyers way of
owning that property free and clear from
interference of all other parties it's a
really important thing we call that
clear title and clear title is a Holy
Grail it's required for every closing
for a buyer to be able to move forward
comfortably now some of the things that
could impede clear title are perhaps the
seller does not fully owned the property
maybe they didn't get it conveyed
properly to them we research way back to
make sure that everyone who's owned the
property before you're going to owns the
property fully and can convey their
whole interest to you other things that
could stand in the way or if the seller
has liens judgments or bankruptcies
affecting them
and if those things aren't resolved they
could follow the property you might hear
your attorney even me or Ben say that
it's attached to the real property just
meaning that it could affect your title
to the property perhaps it could be
foreclosed on to satisfy that sellers
debts we do not want that so we'll do
whatever it takes to make sure that gets
resolved including maybe having the
Celer pay off those liens or judgments
or any issues out of their sale proceeds
or coming up with other funds to get
that resolved also during the title
search we're looking at who actually
owns the property there's a lot of times
where a seller could be in a state so
the heirs owned the property and there
are a lot of people that need to really
sign to make sure the whole interest is
conveyed so I think about it this way
say someone passes and they've got four
children well you might think that just
that's where children need to sign but
that's not always the case if those
people have spouses and their spouses
have to sign or if one of the four
children has passed then maybe their
children need to sign it's different
every single time so we're doing a lot
of research to make sure we know every
person that needs to sign the deed to
make sure that the buyer gets the total
interest conveyed to them so once we're
satisfied with the title search we're
satisfied that the buyer can get clear
title to the property there's a lot of
other work that goes into the closing so
we're chasing down all sorts of numbers
and figures we're working with lenders
we're working with title insurers we're
working with both Realtors and the
seller the sellers previous lender to
make sure the payoff is sent to the
right place and in the right amount so
there's a lot of stuff going on behind
the scenes to get to that point of
closing zones where you've got the big
stack of papers to sign our office can
spend weeks preparing for this closing
tracking down all the parties that need
to be there and getting all the
information needed but once we're
actually at closing day the closing
attorney is going to sit with the buyer
sit with the seller we're not going to
disclose any private information to
either party but we're going to explain
all of the documents to you and for
buyers especially this is important
because you need to know what you're
signing and why it matters so we go
through every scrap of paper tell you
what it means make sure all of your
questions are answered
so once all of the documents have been
signed by everyone that needs to sign
the closing attorney makes sure that the
deed in deed of trust or any other
documents that need to be recorded like
easements or boat slips or powers of
attorney get recorded with the Register
of Deeds and once that's done then funds
are dispersed so commissions sale
proceeds whatever needs to be paid out
to any party and after that the closing
is done the most important thing that a
closing attorney does is act as a shield
for the buyer to make sure that they get
everything that they deserve to get out
of the contract and make sure that the
transaction is done right if you need a
closing attorney
I'm Tiffany Weber Thomas and Weber and
wersal North Carolina we would love to
help you
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