Foreclosure Deeds In The Kitchen
So you’ve stumbled on a piece of property and the owners invite you to come over
and during the second cup of coffee they make a deal that can’t be beat. The
only bad thing is that they are leaving town tomorrow and won’t be back for a
closing for three weeks.
Being desperate, you reach into your bag, pull
out your laptop and printer and do a self-prepared deed and close the deal right
in the kitchen. After all, you’ve seen it done on television ads for years and
you know a few folks who have acquired hundreds of properties and saved in
closing costs for each of them.
Here’s what you should think about the
‘kitchen table closing’.
- DO not do them as a standard way of business. You will be deemed the scam
artist of the real estate world. - DO not do them as a way of saving on closing costs. You probably won’t save
much anyway with this method. - DO not make your kitchen table closings part of your spiel to buy property.
They DO NOT hold in court in most cases - Some people will refute them if they change their mind.
Now
that you have a great view of this style of real estate closing, let me tell you
a few more things about kitchen table closings.
- Do them. If you feel that a seller may be flaky, do the closing at the home
right there. It’s better than nothing. - Don’t use them. Have these documents as a backup in case your seller fails
to show for the ‘real’ closing at the title company. - Keep those documents handy. Most sellers are willing to understand them as
a legal contract and will follow through, if not, you’ll at least have something
to show in court.
It’s always good to get something in writing from a
seller when an agreement is made. I have seen too many deals go down the drain
over a hand shake and five days between the deal and the
closing.
All-in-all, be honest and don’t get greedy. If one deal flakes,
keep walking the streets and find you another property to invest in.