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I am in the post-Purchase & Sale stage of buying a condominium in Massachusetts. My real estate attorney says that I should transfer the funds to another attorney (who will be producing any title insurance I decide to purchase and conducting the closing) a day or two before the closing (the second attorney will tell me the exact amount, which he will determine because he will do the calculations the day before the closing). The second attorney and I have bank accounts at the same bank, so I can do a direct transfer, not a wire transfer.
Does this sound like the proper way to close? The only other time I sold a property (about 12 years ago), I was given a cashier's check by either the buyer or the buyer's lawyer or realty (can't remember, just that it was a check, and not a personal check). Are transfers to a lawyer, rather than a cashier's check to either the buyer or a real estate agent, the current way that funds for a closing are delivered? Should I expect any verification, after I transfer the appropriate amount from my account to the lawyer's, prior to the closing? It seems a little odd. Since I will be transferring the entire amount of the purchase (after the deposit I paid for the Purchase & Sale agreement), rather than getting a mortgage or other type of loan, I am a little concerned. I have no reason to distrust my real estate lawyer, but there is always a potential for fraud, and this is a large amount of my money.
Does anyone know if, in Massachusetts, cashiers' checks can be accepted for real estate closings, and to whom they should be made out - an escrow agent or the realtor representing the seller?
All I know about the lawyer to whom I am supposed to (according to my real estate atty.) to transfer the money for the purchase is that he is a colleague of my real estate lawyer and will be conducting the closing. I have checked online and verified through the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers that both lawyers are active members of the Bar in Massachusetts, but that does not tell me much.
At our last closing, we received a Wells Fargo check. An hour later, we deposited this very same check in our account at Wells Fargo and were told it would take 5-7 days to clear.
I pointed out that the check was one of theirs. Made no difference. It was a week before the check was deposited in our account.
Are transfers to a lawyer, rather than a cashier's check to either the buyer or a real estate agent,
In Texas, I've only ever seen them paid to the title/escrow company, and then the title company pays everybody. You should call your title company and ask them if that is SOP where you are.
We had a cashiers check from a national bank overnighted to after a closing. We went to our "new" bank to deposit and the cashier said there would be a 5? day hold on the check. My wife said well not an issue as we do not need the money now. I said BS. This is a cashiers check from a national bank branch not more the 120 miles away. The teller said this is policy. I asked to see the branch manager.
I was livid. I said to her. In this day and age there is no reason your bank needs more then 24 hours to clear this check and deposit the money in my account especially a cashiers check from a national bank. I said I used your bank's debit card this morning and you have already deducted the money from my account (pending transaction) in less then 2 hours. I said decision time here. Either clear this check in 24 hours or I take my business elsewhere. She said let me make a call. I said we will even step outside your office if you want to call me a Ahole on the phone to who you are calling. I said decision time.
The check was deposited in our account the next business day.
I know this is an old post, but do you know what the word "fraud" means? We get presented fake cashier's checks all the time. It's not a reliable form of payment anymore.
Hell, cash is more reliable because if you have a light source, you can easily tell whether the money is real or not. Last TWO times I have sold a car, I received cash. It was the weekend and I wasn't going to take a check and find out it wasn't good two days later. Easy to tell whether cash is real or not.
For real estate transactions, seems like wire is the way to go.
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