Well it actually happened folks. We closed on the house of loyal socks and renovations have already started! Well, the demo has already started and all the carpeting, tack strips and staples are removed as well as most of the broken awning on the deck out back. I’ll write an update post soon but first I want to talk about the closing process we went through on this foreclosure.
Let’s just say IT WAS A HILARIOUS CLOSING with many ups and downs and better yet, it was closing we almost missed.
What could possibly make closing on a foreclosure hilarious? Let’s just say lots of things. Lack of communication is pretty hilarious. Too many chefs in the kitchen is hilarious. Not realizing you already have the paperwork you’ve been “waiting on all day” is just knee slapping hilarious. (Yep, that last one was us!)
Our original closing was supposed to be December 10th. I had a feeling the closing would be delayed because we hadn’t even gotten our settlement statement to review by the morning of!
At about 9pm on December 10th we got an email saying we weren’t closing that day (duh) and they needed about a week. So my next assumption was that we would close the following Monday, December 17th… and my assumption was right.
However. However!!!
Like with any closing there are a lot of people involved. There are buyers, sellers, agents, a title company – sometimes with multiple people, and in our case an auction company with various representatives as well. With all the people being copied on emails and the back and forth frenzy of emails, things get murky.
It also doesn’t help that online auction closings are very different from “regular” closings and every auction company is different. (Although similar in the fact that they never seem to go smoothly.) So knowing what’s next is never guaranteed and I have an excellent example of that and how we almost missed our own closing.
To start, in our defense we’ve dealt with closings where banks accept online signatures, where some only “wet ink” signatures in blue ink which means you have to physically mail them back (gasp!) and apparently some want you to log into a secure portal, download documents, print them out, go to a notary, sign them in front of said notary, upload them to the computer and email them to the title company. Then you have to wire the money because nothing else counts if they don’t get their moola.
So let me back up. After we reviewed and okay’d the final settlement statement and signed an addendum extending our closing to December 17th we assumed we were waiting on a confirmation email and instructions on what to do next. Only natural right?
By this point all we knew was that we had to sign papers in front of a notary and assumed we’d have to send them back somehow – whether that be by mail like buying our HUD home, scanning them or faxing them (is that even still a thing?)
On Monday, at 3pm our time we still “hadn’t received” any emails or instructions on what to do so we contacted the title company to find out what was going on. We were informed they sent the closing packet on Friday afternoon via a secure email message. It turns out I never got an email (no, not even in my junk mail,) our agent found her copy in junk mail and Todd received it but assumed we both were receiving all the emails and that if it were important I would have opened it and let him know what the next steps were. Also, in his defense he mentioned the email to me but I thought he was referencing an email we got earlier in the week!!!
As an aside because I’m sure some of you are wondering… yes I’m an agent but we used someone else to purchase this house because when you buy for yourself the seller sometimes refuses to pay a commission. So to that I say why not spread the wealth to someone other than the greedy bank?
So the story continues when we realized yes in fact, Todd had an invitation to view a secure email which contained none other than the closing packet! Dun dun dun. And we had an hour and a half to get the papers signed & notarized, uploaded and emailed back as well as have the money wired or run the risk of having to “re-close” if we missed the deadline (which of course means more in closing fees.)
We arrived at the notary and we’re happily signing our pages when I get to the last one and realize there’s no last page. The printer didn’t print the last page of the packet. So we ran home to print the missing page and brought it back to have it notarized.
Then. THEN. I’m scanning the 22 pages and on page 17 saw there was a blank notary section! I said to Todd “oh my gosh we have to go back again.” He totally thought I was joking until I showed him “she missed a signature!” So we get in the car, drive back to the notary and the nice lady tells us “that’s to notarize the seller’s signature.” She gave me a strange look and I burst out laughing, said thank you and we left.
Once outside Todd started dying from laughter and I was basically at the point of squealing (and maybe snorting) like a pig.
We got home and I sent the already properly notarized paperwork via email back to the closing agent by 4:30 pm their time which was 6:30pm our time. Had we not been on two different time zones, we may not have made the closing deadline! Whew.
The next day, December 19th around 12:30pm we got the final okay saying “the buyer may now may take possession.” So we’re now well on our way flipping this 3,000+ sqft house!
Closings like this remind me why I love working with Todd and why we’re working towards a goal of being able to work together most days of the week again. Or choose to not work at all and just spend the day doing what we want, can we say financial freedom AND time freedom goals?
We could have argued over who’s fault it was, or been grumpy when we had to visit the notary three times in one hour or a million other things. Instead we just laughed about the entire situation and how out of the three properties we’ve purchased together not one has been a smooth and easy closing.
For us, the low points can be bonding moments where we accept that sometimes shit happens and there’s nothing you can do but figure out how to wade through the shit.
And it’s awesome to have someone to wade through the shit with.
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Before and after photos of Mansion Rd Flip House
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