Closing Attorney Role

First, If you have a special situation, contact the closing attorney ASAP to review. This would include but not be limited to:

• Power of Attorney
• The Executor of an Estate
• Can’t Attend Closing

After Due Diligence, the ball now shifts mostly to the Closing Attorney. They will gather and prepare all documents for the closing. Neither DUFFY nor the Buyer’s Agent has a role in this other than sending the contract and any amendments to the Closing Attorney.

The Closing Attorney has probably already sent a “Seller Information” form for you to complete. If you have questions about this form please contact the Closing Attorney directly. And yes, this form will ask for some personal information. 🙂 Please be responsive to any requests from their office or it can delay your closing.

The closing is typically scheduled by the Buyer’s Agent. If you have a preference feel free to contact the Closing Attorney’s office directly to get it scheduled.

The Closing Attorney will prepare a Preliminary Settlement Statement, typically no more than 1-3 days before closing. They need all the information from the buyer’s lender before this can be prepared. If your buyer is paying all cash this should be available to you for review 3 days prior to closing. DUFFY requests this Settlement Statement from the Closing Attorney multiple times before the closing and WHEN/IF we receive it we forward it to you for your review. We are happy to answer any basic questions you have but if you have specific questions about dollar amounts the Closing Attorney will need to be who you contact.

***Don’t panic if something is wrong with the Settlement Statement. This can be corrected easily and all the way up to AT the closing table.

The property is officially closed once all parties have signed the closing documents and it has been funded. Funded means all monies have been exchanged. It is possible if you have an afternoon closing you will not receive your funds until the following business day. Confirm with the Closing Attorney if this is of concern to you.

DUFFY does not attend the closing, we are not needed. If all parties (buyer and seller) will be at the closing together and you are providing possession at closing, have extra keys and garage door openers to give directly to the buyer. The Buyer’s Agent has also been instructed to remove the key from the lockbox and provide that to the buyer.

Last, as a reminder, the Purchase and Sale Agreement allows an 8-day unilateral extension of the closing if the lender or the Closing Attorney needs extra time due to no fault of the buyer or seller. This happens about 20% of the time in our experience.