[NJblue]

It's been MANY years since I was last involved in a real estate transaction and when I last did it, there were real estate agents and lawyers involved for both parties (as is the custom in this state). Hence, I just wrote checks and signed documents as dictated by my attorney.

Now, we are preparing to close on our new house in TV. (Yeah!) We plan to pay cash, hence there will be no mortgage company involved. From what I understand, most people who buy new from TV do not have their own lawyer. That leaves two questions:

1) should we have a lawyer anyway? Has anyone experienced legal troubles by not having a lawyer when buying directly from TV?

2) if we don't have a lawyer, how do all of the various fees like Archive and Recording fees and most importantly, State and County Tax Stamps get paid. Since these fees are not paid to TV, who collects this money from us and disburses it to the proper places? In NJ, that would be the function of the attorney. Who does this when paying cash for a house in TV when no attorney is involved? Does TV do this for us?

Any experience or helpful hints on closing will be appreciated.

[downeaster]

NJ,

Answer #1: Your choice. If you feel more comfortable with a lawyer, hire one. We paid cash with no lawyer.

Question 2: The closing company usually takes care of the total transaction. You pay the closing company, they make disbursements.

When we closed they used Citizens First Bank and it was a piece of cake.

BTW, I am a license real eastate broker and attended many closings. Non any smoother than this one.

DC

[Floridagal]

We did not use a lawyer and everything went smoothly. The title company took care of it all.

[JohnN]

We closed in June paying cash, it was a breeze. Closing company handles the recording fees, etc and it's nominal. They'll give you an estimated closing summary in advance.
good luck and welcome

[njgranny]

Just curious. When you pay "cash," do you give a check? Certified? Or how does it work?

[HoneyBunny & Mouse]

Can anyone tell me what the average closing cost would be on a new home costing between $180 to $190 if you pay cash. ??? Any info would be appreciated.

HB&M

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by JohnN

We closed in June paying cash, it was a breeze. Closing company handles the recording fees, etc and it's nominal. They'll give you an estimated closing summary in advance.
good luck and welcome

Ditto for us in May. Smoothest closing. By mail.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by njgranny

Just curious. When you pay "cash," do you give a check? Certified? Or how does it work?

Bank draft, Certified check........or we did a wire transfer.

[Donna]

We did a wire transfer too..Worked out well! They are very helpful and the directions are very easy!

[barb1191]

Same here; paid cash, no attorney, no problems.

[downeaster]

Originally Posted by HoneyBunny & Mouse

Can anyone tell me what the average closing cost would be on a new home costing between $180 to $190 if you pay cash. ??? Any info would be appreciated.

HB&M

There are too many variables. If you have chosen a house and established a sales price then the agent should be able to give you a reasonable estimate. If you are considering buying a house from the developer then they probably give you an exact figure.
If you are buying a resale then you have to negotiate who pays for what. If there is no broker involved it is best to find a title company to handle the details. Once a contract has been signed they will be able to tell you your share of the closing cost.

DC

[Sidney Lanier]

We bought a resale for cash. A paralegal at McLin & Burnsed in LSL handled all the details, and while we were present, we could see how easy a closing is when the buyers are not there. "Cash" meant our going to our bank, a branch of which is in TV, and getting a bank check; we were told that we would have had to pay for a wire transfer, while a bank check was free and acceptable. Insofar as closing costs are concerned, actually it's not a matter of negotiation; it's all spelled out what the buyers pay and what the sellers pay. As the buyers, our closing costs were nominal; as best as I recall, it was $25 which was half the fee for recording the deed, while the sellers were responsible for tax stamps, title search, title insurance, and so forth. Of course we buyers had to pay adjustments (for example, any portion of property taxes that the sellers had paid that would cover whatever portion of time we owned the house), but that would be the case with any real estate transaction, and again the paralegal handled all the details. We (buyers) and the sellers were given copies of the closing statement that spelled everything out, as well as all other legal paperwork. The fee to McLin & Burnsed was also relatively reasonable, best as I recall; the sellers were responsible for that fee so I don't remember the exact amount. Easiest closing imaginable!

[MMC24]

Originally Posted by njgranny

Just curious. When you pay "cash," do you give a check? Certified? Or how does it work?

I used a Bank Check drawn from my account in Connecticut. A Bank Check is almost as good as a certified check in that the bank will not issue a check if the funds were not available in your account. I am not an expert in this but I do not think you can close on a property with a personal check. You can however pay the misc. fees with a personal check least that was my experience.

[rshoffer]

Now i'm all worked up and worried... When we decided to move to TV our mountainside home in Pa. sold immediately. We have always made financial decisions of any large magnitude with our accountant, our financial advisor (2 different professionals with no connections) and ourselves. We met together, all of us, and one of my main questions was; "should we pay cash for our new Villages house"? We were advised by both, quite emphatically, "NO!" We were advised to finance AS MUCH as we can and invest the cash... especially since the Market is down. Well, I'm an old Pennsylvania Dutchman and debt (even as they call it 'good debt') troubles me. But I followed the advice of the experts I pay to give me advic and financed the entire home. Wonder if I did the right thing?

[NJblue]

Thanks to all for the comforting feedback. I guess the missing information that I was not aware of was that there would be a closing agent involved with the transaction. I imagined sitting at a table with someone from TV who would take our money that they were owed, but then when it came to the various fees owed to others that I would be left with figuring out how to get these things payed.

A related question that I have is the tax stamps that apparently are required. I believe that, unlike the case when buying a resale, when buying new this is the responsibility of the buyer, not the seller. When we received an estimate for what these charges would be when we had a consultation with Citizens First, these totaled (state plus county) approx. .45% of the sale price of the house (approx. .3% state and .15% county). Yet, when I research Florida law, it looks like just the state tax stamp should be .7%. Does anyone have any answer as to why the good faith estimate from the bank was considerably different than what I am reading that the state gets?