Buyer not attending real estate closing on house (dual agency, sale, agreement)

[Dafool]

Thank you in advance for your help.

We are buying a property in Arkansas and live in a different state which is about 9 hours away. Our agent has advised us that we do not need to attend the closing. The transaction is a cash deal and we will have to wire the money to the closing company a day ahead of time.

As we have a lot of packing, etc., we are wondering if this would be alright to not attend. We don't know if anything could go wrong with us not there.

The closing is to be done 8 days before we receive possession of this property.

Thank you again.

[MadManofBethesda]

No, you do not need to attend. In fact, in some states they don't even have formal closings where everyone sits around a table and signs papers.

[Dafool]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

No, you do not need to attend. In fact, in some states they don't even have formal closings where everyone sits around a table and signs papers.

Thank you for your help! We were a bit worried and don't want to run into any unnecessary problems.

Have a nice day!

[rational1]

Umm, will you have someone else do the final walkthrough?

[FalconheadWest]

Your own agent told you that you didn't need to attend, so why would you ask strangers? Your agent wouldn't have suggested it if it wasn't a common occurrence.

[Dafool]

Originally Posted by rational1

Umm, will you have someone else do the final walkthrough?

Oh my goodness! I forgot about this. We do not have anyone to do the final walk through for us. Is this usually done the day of the closing? The sellers are going to be in the house for eight more days after closing. Are we taking a big chance by doing things this way?

Does the final walkthrough have to be mentioned in the contract?

Our agent seems to be taking some shortcuts.

Thank you.

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by Dafool

Oh my goodness! I forgot about this. We do not have anyone to do the final walk through for us. Is this usually done the day of the closing? The sellers are going to be in the house for eight more days after closing. Are we taking a big chance by doing things this way?

Does the final walkthrough have to be mentioned in the contract?

Our agent seems to be taking some shortcuts.

Thank you.

Do you have a buyers' agent or is the listing agent working with you in dual agency?

[willow wind]

I buy and sell on occasion and never go to closings as either buyer or seller. However, I'm in a state where attorneys close. So I just give mine a POA and let him deal with going to the closings.

Final walk throughs on a typical sale are the day of the closing after the seller has moved out. ( example -walk through in the morning, close in the afternoon) Wording as to the condition of the home at clsoing is usually in the sale contract ( in my area)

However, you seem to be in an arrangement where the seller is maybe leasing back for a week after closing. In your case, a walk through boils down to what is in your sale contract / lease back agreement. Is there anything in that agreement about the condition of the house after the sellers do vacate ? Is there anything in there about a walk through? I'm assuming you would be in town to take possession on the day the sellers do move out. Speak to your agent and read your contracts

[Dafool]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

Do you have a buyers' agent or is the listing agent working with you in dual agency?

Yes, we have a buyers' agent. There is a listing agent also. Both agents are being paid for by the seller.

This property is remote and we think it may be an issue with gas money for our agent. Also, he is an extremely nice, people-pleasing person and not very assertive. There have been a few suggestions made from him, which were not exactly in our favor, such as letting the sellers stay in the house after closing. Possession being 8 days from closing is still only a verbal agreement. The contract says we get possession at closing.

I made the mistake of mentioning to our agent that we would be willing to close a couple of weeks early, if the sellers wanted to do this. Our agent suggested we close early and let the sellers stay in the house until the original closing date which is 8 days after our closing. And then he typed up the addendum and sent it to me for signature and it read midnight of that day. We have not signed the addendum yet.

We are moving a bit of a distance and midnight is late for us to pull up with the moving truck. Whereas if we closed with the original closing date, we would be handed the keys at the time of closing, which would be much earlier in the day and we would then be able to unload the truck.

What is complicating this whole issue is the rural electric company requires us to come in person to change over the electric service, which is a 20 hour car drive and can't be done by telephone. (The electric company is quite a ways away from the home we are purchasing.)

We are thinking now that we should rent the moving truck a couple of days earlier and drive down a couple of days earlier than we had planned. This would give us the necessary time to go to the electric company, pick up a check for the purchase of the house and do the final walkthrough.

This whole deal is getting a lot more complicated, with things being changed. We think it would be best to go with the original deal.

We also don't want to make the sellers mad. Inspections have not been done yet.

I apologize for this wall of text. Thanks for all of your help.

[rrah]

You will not be able to "pick up check" for the house purchase. Most title companies will not/cannot take any type of check (including cashier's checks) for amounts over $10,000--something to do with Federal laws. Unless this is an extremely inexpensive house you will need to have the funds wired to the title company.