Yesterday, George the Elder and I headed over to Fidelity Title to sign the papers for our new house. We were excited. We were gonna get a NEW HOUSE!!! We were summarily disappointed.
You see, California is one of a handful of states that close real estate in escrow. It's a total drag. We sign reams of papers. We give them a lot of money. In turn, we leave with a dirty thumb (a notary requirement) and a copy of that ream of paper. What we don't leave with is real estate.
No house. No nothing. According to the escrow officer, once the house is "on record" we will get a call. Wow. A call. How about someone with a trumpet arrives with the keys?? Now that would be at least a tad bit more exciting than a phone call.
The escrow "officer" (sounds very official, but in my mind it just is a stupid word for someone who keeps my house from me) says that none of the sellers have signed yet, so it could be a while. How strange is that? No shaking of hands at the lawyers office. No bonding with the sellers. And more importantly, no house. Seems kind of unfair. We give money = we get house. Apparently in California is goes more like this... we give money = they get the float = we wait for a call. A big thumbs down (with or without ink) from me.
3 comments:
How long does escrow last? That does sound strange. Do they cash the check or does that wait until they sign? It must be tough to arrange movers/contractors when you don't even know if/when you'll take possession.
Seriously? Where's the cold bottle of champagne waiting for you in the new house's fridge? Is there a time frame where the sellers need to sign by? How about they sign first and then give you a call to pay for it? Seems to me there are several other ways to go about this.
This doesn't sound fun at all! Sorry!! :(
Should we still welcome you to California? The move shoudda come with some kind of warning label, huh?! I have a bottle of French champs for you when it becomes official...
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