How to work with us?

We get this questions more than you would think ...

If you are a wholesaler, a broker, an agent, a buyer or seller, you need a real estate closing attorney to handle your transaction. Georgia is an attorney state. While there are National Title Companies, that claim to handle closings in Georgia, they will eventually be subcontracting some lawyer to handle their paperwork. And for sure, investor closings - sub2s, assignments, novations, are not your average type of closing, We urge people to work with LOCAL experienced attorneys. If we aren't your "cup of tea", I am sure there is an attorney close by that knows how to handle them.

Any general expectations?

Be professional and respectful.
Fulfill all your contractual obligations
If you assign a contract, you are responsible for telling the Seller you assigned it.
We do not participate in any lending or financing schemes
Do not expect us to lie for you.
Our fees are based on 1) us finding that title is clear and 2) that when we ask for information or additional paperwork that it is received timely.

Any basic requirements?

The most basic requirement is that the parties involved agree for us to handle their closing. If you send us a contract with another law firm listed - we are going to require an amendment before we start working on it.

Another thing is that we need to be able to reach all the parties. At no time will we handle a closing where a party is not reachable. It doesn't matter if you have a power of attorney, they are traveling across the world or their mother is the only contact.

The paperwork should make sense and be complete. We need a complete a valid contract. It shouldn't be missing required information. It shouldn't require us to track down someone to ask what they meant.

What we need to start :

To start working on your PURCHASE, we need the BASICS emailed to us at closings@gurveylaw.com :

1. A fully signed contract

2. Contact information for every party involved

3. receipt of any earnest money to be given per the contract

IF you plan on assigning or double closing, we also need:

1. the signed assignment, or

2. the second (BC) contract

3. Contact information for every party involved

4. receipt of any earnest money to be given per the assignment/contract

How do you handle assignments?

Assignments are expected to be in a legally binding format following a "chain" from the prior legal document. The ASSIGNOR should be the BUYER on the prior document or the Assignee. ASSIGNMENT FEES should be clear on what they are OR how we should calculate them.

As far as fees at closing ...

1) the sales price is the amount the Seller is selling for at closing.

2) Assignment fees are clearly posted as a payable fee on the Buyer's side at closing.

All of that is pretty standard.

How do you handle Double Closings?

Double closings are two separate legally binding real estate transactions.

Earnest Money: Unless you have written permission from the END BUYER to use their EMD, you must provide your own per your contract.

If your END BUYER has a lender, chances are that they will want to see your contract or your closing statement. We will ask for permission to share either of them. If that has never happened to you before, you haven't closed enough transactions with your end buyers having a lender. It happens.

Do I need to send you EMD?

If your contract says you need to provide it, you need to provide it. You can read more about earnest money under our Blog Section on this site.

PLEASE do not put us in the position of having to tell your seller that you haven't sent in EMD yet.

How much time do you need?

There should be at least a solid 10 calendar days from receiving the contract to doing the closing. Sometimes it may take longer. Sometimes we can get it done faster.

What if I don't have a buyer yet?

This can go in a couple different directions. First, if you are going to buy it yourself if you can't find a buyer - then it doesn't really matter. But you need to tell us that.

If your only plan is to back out if you don't find a buyer then you need to

1) pay us for working on your file, or

2) wait until you have a buyer.

In the kindest possible way , we can tell you that we don't work for free. We also should not be put in the position of telling your seller that you are terminating.

Do you allow Pass-through funding?

For a Double Closing we do allow pass-through funding ... IF the parties allow it.

This doesn't mean that the Buyer will allow it or their Lender will allow it - if they have a lender. In those situations - Transactional Funding would be needed.