Closing made simple.

1. Owner’s Title Insurance Policy – This covers the new Buyer in a Real Estate Transaction and is not transferable. It’s good for a single transaction. If someone is added by Quit Claim onto the Deed after the transaction, or the owner’s name is changed into the name of a Corporation after the purchase, the policy becomes null and void.
2. Lender’s Title Insurance Policy-This protects the Lender if a mortgage is to be held against this property. It is required to be purchased, and is paid for by the Buyer.

The Lender’s Title Insurance Policy protects a Lender in a Real Estate transaction. It is purchased by the Buyer and is required by their Lender.

You can check out this link and also read more here for the answer to this question.

Once again, everything is negotiable, but the following are traditionally paid by the Seller in most FL counties: 

Title Policy/Title Insurance Premium – Fee amount is based on the purchase price of the property and set by the state of Florida. The Seller usually pays this fee in all counties except Miami Dade, Broward, Collier and Sarasota. 

Title Search Fee – Fee charged by a third party to perform the search of the history of the property. 

Settlement/Closing Fee – Fee charged by the Title Company to perform their work for a Real Estate closing. This includes order processing, examination and review of title history, time spent resolving any title issues, preparing closing documents, actual time spent conducting the closing, postage, storage and any other fees the Title Company incurs to complete the transaction.  

Doc Stamps/Deed Transfer Tax – This is a tax on the Sale of property by the County within which it occurred. It’s set by the county and varies based on the purchase price of the property. 

Property Taxes – Outstanding property taxes as well as property taxes for the current year will be paid at closing. The Seller will pay a prorated amount of tax for the current year, based on the amount of time they have occupied the property.

HOA Fees  

Estoppel – This is a mandatory document ordered from the HOA to determine outstanding dues, if any. All Home Owner Associations charge a fee for this, and it can vary based on the association. 

Outstanding Dues – Once the Estoppel is received, the Seller is will pay the outstanding dues at closing, if applicable.  A prorated amount of HOA dues are also the responsibility of the Seller, and are based on the length of time they have ownership of the property. Example: If HOA dues are paid monthly, and the transaction closes in the middle of the month, the Seller will be responsible for paying a prorated amount according to how many days of the month they owned the property. 

Real Estate Broker Fees/Realtor Commission – If a Real Estate Agent was hired to sell the property, the fee for their services will be paid at closing.  

Outstanding Mortgages – All outstanding mortgages will be paid in full at closing. The payoff amount will be updated up until the day of closing, to make sure the amount is accurate.   

Outstanding Tax liens—If there are any outstanding tax liens on the property, they will be paid off at closing, from the proceeds of the sale. 

Outstanding Liens – Overall, the Seller will be selling the property debt-free, so whatever liens are tied to the property will be paid off.

Watch our video that summarizes this

The State of Florida sets the Title Policy Insurance Premiums. Artesian Title is actually the ONLY Title Company in Florida to offer the Real Rebate. We will rebate you back a portion of the Title Policy Premium amount.

Also, Artesian Title is the ONLY Title Company or law firm in Florida that offers the REAL REBATE, where you save up to 20% of your Title Policy Premium.

1. You can, obviously, come in to close at one of our office locations.
2. We can come to you with one of our Concierge Closers that actually explain every single page of the paperwork, anywhere and anytime you want to close. If you don’t want to leave work, no worries, we will meet you there. We offer this service complimentary for our clients.
3. COMING SOON – Remote Video Closings – On July 1, 2019, the State of Florida made a law that beginning on Jan 1, 2020, documents will be able to be e-signed and e-notarized. This means that you can hop onto your mobile device or tablet and we can facilitate the closing easily from anywhere you are.

1. Is the Seller foreign? (No green card, no social security number, lives in a different country…)
2. What is sales price? If it’s below $300k and, the buyer is going to use the property as their primary residence, and is willing to sign a homestead affidavit stating this, then FIRPTA is exempt.
3. If the sales price is greater than $300k, then the IRS is expecting a check for 15% of the gross sales price.
4. The IRS expects a check, or correspondence, from a FIRPTA expert seeking to get the amount reduced. A CPA or accountant that’s well-versed in dealing with FIRPTA can deal with this.
5. If FIRPTA applies, and is not addressed, the IRS can go after the Seller and Seller’s property
6. A REGULAR ACCOUNTANT CANNOT HANDLE THIS.  We’ve seen this happen hundreds of times. A FIRPTA Seller needs to see documentation that the accountant is talking to the IRS and is very familiar with the process.

1. We use Safe Escrow to send and receive all funds. This proprietary software verifies that all bank account numbers and names match before any wires are sent.
2. All of our emails are sent using ZIX email security and any wiring instructions are sent encrypted.
3. Our offices are protected by state-of-the-art servers which are all protected by zero day virus software and firewalls, updated daily for new virus protection.

1. Your Realtor Commission—This is the BIGGEST thing you pay for that you can actually influence, although our Real Estate partner friends would hate to hear us say this. This area is a point which you can always negotiate. Some Realtors and Brokers don’t negotiate, but just know you are paying 5% to 6% (of the Purchase Price) to them and it’s the highest area you can negotiate.
2. Title Insurance – If you bought your home in the last three years and have your prior Owner’s Title Insurance Policy (we can try to help you locate it if you’ve misplaced it!), you will get a Rebate (called a Re-Issue Credit) on your Title Insurance policy. Just make sure you tell the Title Company. Artesian Title actually proactively asks for this information, and remember, we are the only Title Company in Florida that offers the Real Rebate where we Rebate you up to 20% of the Title Policy.