Buying Real Estate?
Buying a home is one of the most exciting — and sometimes overwhelming — milestones in life. At Legacy Title Agency, we’re here to guide you through every step of the process so you feel confident, informed, and supported. Whether this is your first home or your forever home, this guide will walk you through what to expect from start to finish as we prepare to insure and close on your new home.
STAGE 1
Getting Started
Let us know that you want Legacy to handle your closing! There are usually NO upfront costs for a closing with us, so it is easy to get started!
Make sure you submit your Earnest Money Deposit. If Legacy is holding your Earnest Money Deposit, check out our information on how to do this here.
Send a copy of your signed purchase agreement to Legacy (feel free to submit it here). After Legacy receives your purchase agreement and the names of the parties involved, we will complete our research by reviewing public records to confirm who owns the property and what liens may apply.
This information is used to prepare a Commitment of Title Insurance. This is a standard document that shows the results of the investigation and creates a list of things that need to happen before the property can be insured and closed.
We will send you our Title Commitment along with an easy to follow “to-do list” showing you everything that needs to happen before the closing.
Estimated timing: 1-3 days
Action Items for Buyers:
Make sure Legacy has a copy of your Purchase Agreement
Submit your EMD Funds
STAGE 2
Closing Preparation
This stage starts when you get your “To Do” list from us! Usually during Stage 1, our research uncovers a lot of information - such as mortgages the seller may have taken out against the property, tax bills, municipals invoices, and may uncover some questions of ownership.
We will be gathering documents and information from all parties to answer any questions we had after our research and make sure all of the seller and previous owner’s interests are conveyed to the buyer. Common things we are requesting include:
Finalizing the spelling of buyer and seller names for legal documents
Requesting Authorizations from sellers to get payoffs for their mortgages or other liens against the property. Then we reach out to the lien holders to ask for formal payoff letters so we know how much money is required to pay off and discharge those liens.
Signing Authority for any entities involved, such as Companies, Trusts, or Estates. For example, if one of these entities owns the property, we will need legal documentation showing us who can sign on behalf of that entity.
As we receive information or documents, we review that information to ensure it contains what is needed for us to move towards closing. Occasionally we may need to coordinate with attorneys or outside parties to have legal documents created or modified so that the requirements are met.
Preliminary Statements may be exchanged between parties during this time, but know that these figures are VERY preliminary at this stage.
Once we have EVERYTHING we need, and the other parties, such as the lender, have everything they need as well, we call this CLEAR TO CLOSE - and we get to schedule our closing!
Estimated timing: 15-30+ days
Action Items for Buyers:
Provide any requested information
Check your ID - make sure you will be able to bring a VALID government issued photo ID to your closing (check the expiration date and make sure it will still be valid for your closing)
Start thinking about how you are going to get your funds to the closing table - check out your options here.
Scheduling the Closing
STAGE 3
Once we have all the information we need for the closing, we can then schedule our closing!
When we schedule a closing, the most important thing we do is pick a date for the closing to occur. This date is the anchor for calculating all fees, payoffs, taxes, and invoices.
Which means the next step is for us to recalculate all of the fees, invoices, etc based on our closing date. Sometimes we may have to re-order payoffs for mortgages or liens because the payoffs we received during our Closing Prep Stage are now out of date. This process usually takes much less time since we are just ordering an update.
Once we have all of our updated fees and payoffs calculated for our closing date we can begin to prepare out closings documents - this includes our closing statements, federal and state required documents and so on.
Once Legacy has completed their own statements, they work with the other parties such as the lender and if the seller chose a different title company, Legacy will reach out to balance our final fees with them too.
After Legacy, the Lender (if applicable), and the Seller’s Title Co (if applicable) have all exchanged fees, documents, and balanced our statements together, the final numbers and final documents will be released to the Realtors, Buyers, and Sellers.
If a Lender is involved - they will work privately with you - the buyer - to provide you with exactly how much money you will need to send to Legacy for closing.
If there is no lender involved - Legacy will let you know exactly how much money you will need to send to Legacy for closing.
Don’t forget to check out our instruction page here to see how to send your funds to Legacy!
Review your closing documents and statements for accuracy and understanding - let us know if you have any questions.
Send your Funds to Legacy Title. Check here for more information on how to do this.
If you are wiring your funds, we recommend wiring your funds the day before the closing. You cannot get the keys to your home until that money is RECEIVED by Legacy.
If you need to bring $15,000 or less to the closing, you can bring a cashier’s check made payable to Legacy Title at the closing, but you will likely need to get this cashier’s check from a bank or other financial institution, so please plan your timing accordingly.
Estimated timing: 2-5 days
Action Items for Buyers:
Check your ID - make sure you will be able to bring a VALID government issued photo ID to your closing (check the expiration date and make sure it will still be valid for your closing)
Get your funds to Legacy - check out your options here. Don’t forget that your money must be RECEIVED by Legacy before your closing is considered complete.
Be ready to bring your information to the closing such as name, phone, email, address and a forwarding address to be used by Legacy and your Lender for up to 90 days after the closing.
STAGE 4
The Closing
Legacy will be collecting all of the funds from you, the buyer, and the Lender - and anyone else who needs to pay something for the closing. Legacy is usually the party who makes sure everyone is paid according to the closing statements. We will be collecting all of the money from the buyer and lender, and we will be writing checks or sending wires to all the appropriate parties - for example, if the seller has a mortgage on the property, Legacy will likely be wiring the payoff funds to that lender to payoff the seller’s mortgage.
Our “Closer” (this is a fancy word for our closing pro) will arrive to your closing appointment with a copy of all of the documents (from everyone including your lender) that you need to sign.
Our Closer will ask to see your ID, and they will make a copy of your ID for our records. If you brought a certified check to closing for $15,000 or less, they will collect that from you as well.
Once your identity has been verified, our Closer will walk you through all of the documents to sign.
Signed documents will be uploaded to the Legacy Headquarters for review and sorting. Legacy will also be collecting the signed seller documents as well
Once Legacy has received and reviewed your signed documents, the seller’s signed documents, and all of the funds from you and the lender, your closing will officially be COMPLETE!
Estimated timing: 30 mins to 1 hour
Action Items for Buyers:
BRING your ID - make sure you will be able to bring a VALID government issued photo ID to your closing (check the expiration date and make sure it will still be valid for your closing)
Get your funds to Legacy - check out your options here. Don’t forget that your money must be RECEIVED by Legacy before your closing is considered complete.
Show Up to your scheduled closing appointment.
STAGE 5
After the Closing
After Legacy receives all of the above items, we will send you an email confirming this and provide you with a copy of all of the relevant signed documents.
Legacy will also send checks or wires so the seller gets their proceeds, liens are paid off, etc.
You - the buyer - have a few items to complete:
Start with these:
File your Property Transfer Affidavit - Take the original signed Property Transfer Affidavit from your closing and deliver it to your Assessor’s office in the city/township that you purchased. This needs to be done within 45 days or you may be fined or penalized by the municipality.
File your Principal Residence Exemption - If you are using this property as your one principal residence to qualify for the Homestead Property Tax Exemption (this lowers your property tax bill), you will bring this form in along with your Property Transfer Affidavit as described above.
Occupancy, Security Deposit, or other Escrows - if Legacy is holding an escrow for you and the seller, be sure to bring THIS form with you when you exchange keys or otherwise so both you and the sellers can fill this document out and sign it and those escrow funds can be disbursed. Once it is fully executed, email it to escrows@legacyclosings.com .
1-2 Weeks after closing:
A copy of your recorded warranty deed may be emailed to you. If Legacy recorded your deed, we will email a copy of it to you. If another title company was responsible for recording your deed, it will come from them. This shows that your deed was recorded at the county and perfects your ownership.
A copy of your owner’s title policy will be emailed to you. If you ever have a question about your ownership or need to file a claim, this document will provide useful information to you.
Estimated timing: 45+ days