Closing On A House?We're Here
To Help You
A home sale has many moving parts. Triumph Title Group exists so the buyers and the sellers don’t have to keep track of — or even know about — those moving parts. We’re experts, and we do it for you.
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What We DoWe Make The Process
Of Closing On A House Easy
The team at Triumph Title Group has decades of experience in both the real estate and title industries. We act with expertise and fiduciary duty, guarding against the risk of loss and making sure that contracts are executed to the letter.
When your home transaction approaches the closing phase, it’s crunch time. All the preparation, anticipation, and negotiation come down to this—a stack of paperwork that will either seal the deal, or spiral the transaction apart.
Who do home buyers and sellers count on to make sure that the latter doesn’t happen? That the transaction doesn’t fall apart at the last minute, to the personal and financial detriment of everyone?
That important duty falls to the title company. While often a background player that the parties don’t meet until the eleventh hour, the title company is an important player in the
transaction.
We are the fixers, the coordinators, the professionals who take a chaotic assembly of contracts and supporting documents, and line them up like dominoes.
A few signatures, and a cascade of legal consequences results in the seamless transfer of a huge asset—a home, a piece of land, a building or series of buildings with attached personal property.
Giant loans get paid off, service providers get made whole … all within an hour, seated at an unassuming conference table in the title office.
Title mistakes are disruptive and expensive. Every home transaction needs the services of a competent, trustworthy title company.
The team at Triumph Title has over 75 years of combined experience in real estate law and the title industries.
As a neutral third-party serving both buyers and sellers in the residential real estate closing process. We act with expertise and fiduciary duty, guarding against the risk of loss and making sure that contracts are executed to the letter
As Part Of TheResidential Closing
Process We Provide
- Quick, accurate, and expert review of the title, clearing any defects so you arrive at closing with a marketable title.
- Streamlined management of the transaction, catching problems early and offering pro-active solutions.
- Easy communication between agents, lenders, attorneys, and other providers to assemble everything needed to close.
- Calculation of proration for all taxes, assessments, and premiums, ensuring that you only pay what you are required to pay.
- A full, plain-English explanation of the closing documents so that there are no surprises or lingering worries.
- Fiduciary responsibility as escrow agent, handling your money with professionalism and integrity.
- Scrupulous distribution of funds at closing, adhering to the sales contract to the letter.
- Conscientious payoff of any back liens on the property, ensuring an orderly transfer of ownership.
- Rigorous recording and filing of documents and title insurance to reduce risk and facilitate future transfers.
Our GoalIs To Provide A
Superior Closing Experience
We regard every party to the transaction as trusted partners — buyers, sellers, lenders, real estate agents, attorneys. We’re here to help. Our doors are always open and we are always available to make the closing process as accessible and friction-free as possible.
The best closings are barely noticeable. If we, the title company, do our job right, the closing is positively anticlimactic, considering the significance of the moment—the transfer of hundreds of thousands of dollars in asset value, possibly the acquisition of a home and a family’s biggest investment. That’s why some real estate agents bring champagne, balloons, or other goodies to closings to mark the occasion!
From our perspective, a superior closing experience entails …
- Concierge Closing with flexible closing options including remote and online closing solutions.
- Advanced, complete cash-to-close snapshots.
- Online delivery tracker for all required instruments.
- Local industry expertise and relationships.
- In-house attorneys and experienced support staff.
- Proactive communication with accessible title agents.
- Transparent closing services at competitive prices.
We Believe We Have AResponsibility When
Closing On A House
Our role is to act as a neutral third party between a buyer and a seller who have agreed upon terms of the sale of property. We make sure that all laws are complied with, all terms of the contract get satisfied, and all loans or liens get discharged in the process. We understand that buyers and the sellers depend on us to both properly close the transaction and to do so in as timely a manner as possible.
We Understand The Seller
… may be depending on a successful closing to afford his/her next home or other investments. We make sure that all current liens and loans are identified and discharged in the closing, so the seller doesn’t even have to worry about it.
We make whole all vendors on the seller’s side of the transaction, including the seller’s agent, attorney, and tax advisor as needed. We also make sure that the seller gets refunded prorated balances (s)he no longer owes, such as prepaid taxes and assessments that are the responsibility of the new owner.
After a successful closing, the home is a part of the seller’s past, with no lingering questions, liabilities, or responsibilities. The loan, all liens, ownership, covenants, and responsibilities—they’re all settled. The property is now the buyer’s responsibility!
We Also Understand The Buyer
… has their own cast of characters to coordinate, including lenders, appraisers, inspectors, and another slate of agents, attorneys, and tax advisors.
Our job as closing agents is to keep all the ducks in a row. The buyer’s only job is to coordinate with their real estate agent, wire funds, show up to closing, and pick up keys.
We disburse all funds to the right recipients, and coordinate with the buyer’s lender so the mortgage note is ready to go at closing.
We also file and record documentation of the sale with the requisite government clerks so the buyer’s ownership is easy to confirm, especially if they decide to sell the property down the road.
In Home SalesWhat Does
“Closing” Mean
In the sale of a home or other piece of real property, “closing” is the process by which final documents are executed and filed, money changes hands, covenants fulfilled, and the entire deal laid to rest.
In some ways, the “point of no return” has usually already passed by the time closing arrives. Once sales contingencies expire—inspection periods, option periods, financing contingencies, etc.—then the deal is pretty much full-steam-ahead. The closing is, in some ways, a formality.
But it is an important formality, and it cannot be skipped. Many laws apply to the transfer of real estate, and real estate contracts for sale are complicated. Yes, there is no backing out before you arrive at the “closing table,” but the actions taken at the closing table are what make the sale of property official.
After the closing, the deed of the property has legally passed from the seller to the buyer—the buyer now “owns” the property. The cash sales price, wired into escrow by the lender or the buyer or both, has been released to the seller—or, more often than not, most of the cash goes to the seller’s mortgage note holder to settle the debt, and the seller gets to pocket the difference.
Either way, money and ownership have changed hands, per the terms of the contract for sale. The buyer gets the keys and full rights to occupy or dispose of the property. That’s closing!
How Long Does It Take To
Close On A House?
It depends on what you mean by “closing.” The term can be interchangeably used to mean the day the transaction is settled or the actual process that occurs leading up to and including the final settlement.
When closing refers to the meeting where the actual settlement will take place, you should expect to spend about an hour at the title company’s office signing documents and transferring funds. However, if “closing” is referring to the actual process, it can take anywhere from 30 to 45 days to work through the residential closing process and finalize the transaction.
This long window is to give various parties time to perform necessary action, including:
- Time for the buyer to perform inspections of the property, in accord with the terms and contingencies found in the purchase contract.
- Time for the lender to perform due diligence on the transaction, including underwriting, appraisal of the property, and evaluation of the borrower’s credit and income.
- Time for the title company to perform a title inspection and examination to confirm that the transaction can be legally completed in accordance with the purchase agreement; and to draw up the necessary paperwork.
Know What You're Walking IntoWho's Likely To
Be At the Closing?
There’s nothing like walking into one of the biggest meetings of your life and seeing strangers lined up like the cast of a drawing room murder mystery.
Actually, the cast of characters at the closing may change from transaction to transaction, but there should be no one scary or surprising. In fact, some closings may only have two attendees, despite the dozens of people involved in a sale. This is because, if the title company does its job well, the hard work is already done and closing is just a formality—just paperwork.
Here’s who is most likely to be present at a residential closing, and what their roles are:
- The Buyer. The buyer has the lion’s share of the work to be done at the closing table. The buyer will sign the deed, the affidavit of title, the bill of sale for any personal property that conveys with the title, and the promissory note if buying with a mortgage. The handover of the keys may happen at the closing as well—once the closing documents are executed, the buyer is entitled to those keys!
- The Seller (Maybe). This strikes some people as strange, but the seller may not attend the closing on their own house. The documents the seller has to sign—the certificate of title, the deed, the loan payoff statement, and the closing statement—are often pre-signed. The seller has probably already moved on to his/her new home and has no further role in the closing, other than to wait for the title company to wire his/her proceeds from escrow.
- The Closing Agent. The closing agent has been working hard behind the scenes throughout the 30-45 day due diligence period. (S)he will show up to the closing table with a stack of paperwork to sign. Most of the hard work is already done at that point—they will walk the buyer through the paperwork, points to the signature fields, and collect the executed documents for processing and filing.
- The Buyer’s Real Estate Agent (Usually). The buyer’s agent is not required to attend closing, but (s)he usually does for two reasons. First, the buyer’s agent is usually a trusted guide through the homebuying process and wants to be on hand to help with any last-minute issues. Of course, the second reason is that his/her commission usually depends on a successful closing, so (s)he wants to nip any obstacles to that closing in the bud.
- The Seller’s Real Estate Agent (Maybe). The seller’s agent isn’t required to attend the closing—after all, the seller might not even attend. However, the selling agent’s commission may also depend on the successful closing, so they may check in.
Setting ExpectationsWhat to Expect
At the Closing?
What the buyer should expect at closing.
If the buyer’s portion of the escrow (the down payment and closing costs, less any deposits) is not funded yet, the buyer should expect to wire the funds or bring a cashier’s check for the amount needed to fully fund the escrow. This amount is stated on the closing statement. The title officer will present the buyer with an organized stack of documents to sign. Once signed, the property sale is official. Some documents will be filed in courthouses or with government clerks for safety and easy reference. After the transfer of property is official, the buyer may pick up keys and other access instructions from the title agent, selling agent, or seller. Whomever hands it over, the buyer is entitled to them as the new owner of the property. Funds may be released from escrow to third-party providers on the buyer’s side, like the buyer’s agent and/or attorney.
What a seller should expect at closing.
Unlike in commercial closings, in residential closings the seller has only a small role in the closing, other than to hand over keys and/or access instructions. Most of the seller’s paperwork is executed before the closing. After the closing, the seller will receive instructions for how to claim any proceeds of the sale (s)he may be entitled to, usually by check or wire transfer. The seller may also receive documentation that any loans paid off by escrow have been satisfied and the liens released. Funds may be released from escrow to third-party providers on the seller’s side, like the seller’s agent and/or attorney.