Talon Northwest Neighborhoods

Sherrie Reed joins Talon as Seattle's newest title insurance Account Manager

The Talon Group is excited to introduce our newest asset to Seattle area real estate professionals! Sherrie Reed will be joining our Seattle sales team on Monday, May 16th.

Many real estate veterans will remember Sherrie from when she supervised Property Information departments in King and Snohomish counties from 1991-2002. Since then, Sherrie dramatically increased her expertice in our industry. Before moving back to Seattle, she performed the duties as President of a family owned title agency providing services across seven southern states! 

Sherrie pactices what she preaches when it comes to the value of education and networking. She is certified to teach several Washington State clock hour approved courses including 1031 Exchange, Title Insurance, Escrow Processes, and Sales & Marketing. Business To Business networking is another avenue that Sherrie believes is essential to building strong ties in a competitve market such as Seattle.

We're confident Sherrie Reed's qualifications will prompt you to raise the bar for what to expect from a title & escrow representitive.

  

 

Real Estate's un-sung Hero: The Escrow Assistant

When buyers and sellers throw themselves into a real estate transaction, they're typically left with memories of dealing with the "main characters" when it's all said and done. The real estate broker(s) and loan officer naturally share top billing followed by the escrow closer or the notary that helps guide the customers through their final documents.

Behind the scenes, the Escrow Assistant plays a huge role in completing a successful real estate transaction. Here's just a sample of what an escrow assistant accomplishes at Talon:

Clear Title - Review title commitment and work with the owners of the property to identify any liens, judgements of record or any other obstacles that would prevent clear title being transferred to the buyer prior to closing. 

Order Payoffs - In the assistants pursuit of making their closer "look good", they request payoff information for all mortgages, lien-able utilities, Home Owner Association fees, judgements or liens, and any other payoff or lien release needed.

Work with lenders - Provide lender any preliminary information such as Closing Protection Letters, fee sheets, wiring instructions, or any other info lenders need for their process.

Schedule appointments - Set a convenient time and location for both buyer and seller to sign their final documents. In the case where a buyer is securing funds from a lender, the escrow assistant will coordinate the signings in conjunction with the arrival of loan docs.  

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate - Update and correspond with all parties the status of the file during the entire escrow process. 

Stunt double for Escrow Officer - Many (if not all) of Talon's escrow assistants possess the knowledge and experience to actually close various types of escrow transactions. With their desire of being in the action, you shouldn't be surprised seeing one of our talon-ted assistants sitting across from you at the signing table! 

Escrow Assistants may be buried down in the "credits" but the show just can't go on without their tireless efforts. We asked a number of our escrow closers what they thought were the most valued traits of an escrow assistant. Here's what they came up with...

Gwen in Bellevue "Patience, flexibility, and being organized."

Shandon in Puyallup "Attention to detail and knowing the value of a sense of urgency on all files!!!"

Michelle in Seattle "A good escrow assistant is like an air-traffic controller...they guide the transaction through "traffic" and "rough conditions" to a successful closing while never letting the stress show."

...about the escrow assistants they have the pleasure to work with:

Stacy in our University Place branch "My assistant and I are so in tune that she (Melissa) has the ability to complete my sentences"

Sandy with Talon's International Team "Even when Bowic is overloaded...He still finds time to go the extra mile."

Renee in Bellevue "Assistant? What assistant? She's (Sara) our boss giving us all the work!

Michael in Seattle "Simone has grace under pressure and the ability to smile while juggling what seems like a million tasks."

Dave in Lynnwood says "If the closers were Astronauts then the conversation from space would go something like this:

Closer: "Houston we have a problem"

Escrow Assistant: "I (Kimberly) have already fixed that...sit down and enjoy the view!"

Photo courtesy of ewen and donabel

 

Negotiating short sales? Talon's EZ HUD can help!

Recent state and federal laws have drastically reduced the number of short sale coordinator/negotiator services available for distressed sellers and listing brokers. These regs will likely result in more brokers shouldering this task for their sellers...at no extra charge. All this when new HAFA changes (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) are making it easier for servicers to steer distressed sellers towards short sale rather than foreclosure. Some expect HAFA's new program will increase short sales by as much as 50% in 2011! 

Given the above scenario, real estate professionals should be asking themselves "what tools are available for making my life easier when dealing with short sales?". A big part of negotiating with underlying lenders is the constant tinkering and resubmitting of the HUD-1 settlement statement. Talon's EZ HUD makes this task a snap!

We wrote about how to utilize this tool several months back and have continually improved it's functionality. As matter of fact, our own closers depend on it for kicking HUDs out by the dozens. For more information on Talon's EZ HUD, please contact your local Talon representative for a demonstration...it's as EZ as...

   
Photo by Kimberlykv

Calculating the Rescission Days for December 2010

December 2010 presents an interesting case study with regards to calculating rescission time for refinance transactions needing to close by year end. Rising interest rates may apply added pressure on both lenders and escrow to close transactions this month-end.  Not closing could mean lock expiration/extensions that can prove costly to both homeowners and lending professionals. Here are a few white elephants to consider when scheduling month-end closings:

• Many if not all escrow and title companies will be closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday in recognition of the Christmas holiday and the weekend. This can put a real pinch on getting refinance transactions signed that need to close by year end. 

• Given that Christmas falls on a Saturday, there is much confusion surrounding how the 3-day right of rescission period is defined for December and when the last signing day truly is. The statute reads three "business" days excluding Sundays and Federal Holidays, including Saturdays.

• Finally, nobody will be closing their transactions on December 31st due to the county recorder's office (and virtually everyone else) being closed for business that day!

Is Friday December 24th a Federal Holiday?  No, The United States Postal Service is referring to Saturday, December 25th as a holiday.  So is the Federal Reserve.  However, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has published a list of 2010 Federal Holidays that shows Friday, December 24th as a holiday.  If you read closely, this website also includes the disclaimer:

"December 25, 2010 (the legal public holiday for Christmas Day) falls on a Saturday.  For most Federal employees, Friday, December 24, will be treated as a holiday for pay and leave purposes." 

Even though most all offices (including the county recording offices) are closed on the 24th, it is still considered an official business day as far as the 3 day right of rescission period is concerned.

When is the last signing day for refis needing to close by year end?  The absolute drop dead last signing date of the month is Sunday, December 26th.  While The Talon Group is officially closed on December 24th we will have signings available on that day and on the 26th for your clients who must sign.  Loan documents will need to be in escrow prior to the 24th for work up and scheduling purposes.  The earlier the better!  Let's work together to make this month end as smooth as possible for our borrowers! 

Talon offers www.escrowpartners.com to local Independent Escrow Companies

If you've been spent much time working in real estate around Seattle/Tacoma/Everett, you learn that RE agents and loan originators are split on who they prefer to close their transactions. Title companies and independent escrow firms are the two dominate players here.

Some of our title insurance customers adamantly prefer to support and deal with small business owners for closing their transactions. Others prefer larger institutions that provide multiple locations and the "deep pockets" of a major corporate entity. Either way, it's the quality of the service and staff that ultimately wins out. In this regard, Independents have absolutely no problem competing at the same level as the big guys!

We've been out meeting with several independent escrow businesses over the past few months to get a sense for how we can increase our value to them. The businesses we've visited have predominantly been setup as follows:

Owner operated: Typically family run where the owner(s) wear several different hats in running the business. Duties include escrow closer, marketing, mobile notary signer, accounting, whatever it takes! Number of employees is typically between 2 to 6 people.

Managing owner: The business owner has hired capable staff to run the everyday operations but has a hand in managing and/or marketing the business. It's not uncommon that the owner has interest in a closely related field of the industry i.e. RE Broker, Loan Originating or Attorney.

The Talon Group realizes that there will always be strong demand for local real estate professionals who choose to work with independents. This is precisely why we've spent the last couple of months soliciting feedback and suggestions from key players of these quality escrow companies. Boy, did we get an earful! Business owners and staff were very open in contributing great ideas geared towards making title services more user-friendly.

Here's a sample of ideas we've implemented so far:

• A secure site for escrow closers to view and manage all existing title services with Talon.

• Provide efficient sub-escrow service/process that escrow companies can access 24/7.

• Provide quick and efficient title supplemental ordering and receiving. During & after hours!

There are plenty more suggestions we're excited to implement as we continue enhancing the site. The ultimate goal for everyone is to tailor our title services in a way that helps independent escrow companies provide better service to their customers. I believe they call that a win-win.

   

Note: Among our management team attending these meetings is our Chief Title Officer Tim Daniels (pictured above), South Sound Title Manager DeNese Montgomery, Escrow Manager and current Eastside Escrow Association President Lyn Solontoi, Area Sales Reps, and myself.

 

 

TITLE HEROES

A special thanks to all title and escrow heroes everywhere. TITLE HEROES is dedicated to those special people in the industry who faithfully serve their communities. When times are good you're more than busy and when markets are down and times are challenging, you're even busier.

Thanks for being there and taking care of the client... Thanks for your expertise and dedication to a job done right. Thanks for doing everything possible and caring enough to get the deal done and closed as it should.

Be safe out there these wintery days…  Have a great Thanksgiving and be warm with family, friends, and loved ones.

From all of us at The Talon Group, Happy Holidays…

 

For more videos from The Talon Group, visit our YouTube Channel:
TalonNW

If escrow makes a mistake preparing the HUD-1, do I still have to pay?

It doesn't happen very often but even the best escrow closers make mistakes. Escrow professionals handle several transactions simultaneously with each having their own intricacies and time frames to close. Not to mention the fact that your escrow team is juggling incoming information from the seller, listing agent, buyer, selling agent. loan processor, loan officer, funders etc. Often times the information needs to be reflected on the HUD-1 Settlement Statement and is coming within minutes or even during the signing appointment!

Part of what makes an escrow officer successful is that they are detail oriented individuals who also enjoy the complexities of closing real estate transactions. Closers take great pride in providing accurate numbers on every transaction. However, when mistakes happen, they cannot be held liable for moneys owed by others. This type of liability would greatly increase the fees both buyer and seller pays escrow for every transaction!  

Buyer and sellers each sign Escrow Instructions as part of their document package. Among other important disclosures contained in these instructions, common clauses read:

The settlement statement will be subject to audit and any errors or omissions may be corrected at any time. If any monetary error is found, the party liable for such payment will immediately pay the amount to the party entitled to receive it.

As well as...

Charges and Assessments on the Property: Buyer has verified the existence of and any amounts that are due at closing or that may become due after closing for the local improvement district, capacity or impact charges and any other assessment that may be charged against the property. Buyer and seller agree to hold escrow harmless due to non-disclosure of assessments. Buyer and seller hereby agree that any assessment not disclosed to escrow prior to closing becomes the responsibility of both buyer and seller to remedy outside escrow.

In addition to the instructions provided by escrow, most lenders require the buyer (FHA loans require both buyer & seller) to certify that:

I have carefully reviewed the HUD-1 settlement statement and to the best of my knowledge and belief, it is a true and accurate statement of all receipts and disbursements made on my account or by me in this transaction. I further certify that I have received a copy of the HUD-1 Settlement Statement.

Here's some possible mistakes that can be made when preparing an estimated HUD-1 Settlement Statement:

Amount needed to payoff the sellers existing mortgage is short. This can occur for a number of reasons but most typically happens when the closer is unaware of late fees, pre-payment penalties or other lender fees missing from the original payoff statement.  Ultimately the seller owes any shortage of funds to their bank and must provide marketable title to the buyer as per the Purchase and Sale agreement. 

Home Warranty fee not included on HUD-1. Closers may be missing an addendum or entirely missed acknowledging the fee on the P&S agreement. Closer feels awful but who ever agreed to pay for the warranty needs to make good per the original signed contract.

Missed paying Invoice(s) through settlement statement for work performed by a contractor. Regardless if the closer had clear instructions to account for these fees, whoever originally agreed to pay for the work needs to come through per their legally binding contract. Closer will likely pay with tears and lost sleep. 

Lender credit to borrower not shown on HUD-1. Never a fun conversation but the closer contacts the lender to reimburse their borrower for the credit that was agreed to between the parties. 

These are just a few reasons why escrow closers make every effort to prepare the HUD-1 Settlement Statement for review before the actual signing takes place. If it is not possible to review the HUD-1 prior to the signing appointment, please carefully check that all figures are accurate (to the best of your knowledge) during your appointment. If you have any questions about a figure on the HUD-1 or something that appears to be missing, now's the time to speak up!

Someone brilliant must have said "Four sets of eyes are better than one!"

 

 

 

Who's responsible to pay utility bills for real estate sold in Washington State?

As with most real estate topics that involve who pays for what in a real estate transaction, it depends. It can depend on which type of utility is serving the property and in the case of electric/gas, is it a private or publicly run utility? Generally speaking though, any liens placed on a property for non-payment of utilities is not the buyer's responsibility.

Washington passed a law addressing utility payoffs effective back in January 1997. This law requires, unless waived in writing by both buyer and seller, that escrow agents must request estimated payoff figures and payoff (from closing proceeds) any utility that has the ability to place a lien on the real estate being sold. Bottom line: this legislation is designed to help home buyers avoid being stuck with unpaid utility bills when taking title to their new home. Any Questions?

Q: How can we be sure that our escrow company has all the utility information for the house we're buying? 

A: Real estate professionals will often include Multiple Listing form 22K with the purchase and sale agreement. Also, most escrow companies send out a utility request form to the seller early in the escrow process. Either way, escrow depends on the accuracy and completeness of the information provided to them by the seller.

Q: What if our closing gets delayed? Will the utility payoff figure still be accurate?

A: Utilities are required to furnish an estimated payoff figure to escrow with a per diem rate good for 30 days after the proposed closing date. Beyond a 30 day delay, escrow will request a new estimated payoff figure from the applicable utilities.

Q: What if the actual bill is higher than what was estimated? Lower than actually paid at settlement?

A: The utility may not recover the charges from the purchaser of the property If the actual closing bill is higher than the estimated payoff given to escrow.   If the actual bill was lower than estimated, the utility will refund the difference directly to the seller within 30 days.

Q: Does the escrow company transfer the utilities to the buyers name for future billing?

A: No, transferring the utility to the new owner is strictly the responsibility of the buyer.

UPDATED: It has come to our attention that some secondary market (GSE's) request the listing agent to notify them with utility payoff figures for their foreclosed properties.  

 

and finally... how do we know which utilities have the ability to place a lien on the property we're buying?

 

 

 

Closing costs have soared 36%! Really????

I just finished reading an article regarding the rule changes to the GFE via the SeattleTimes.  The article references a survey done by Bankrate.com, and says:

"the so-called good-faith estimates that mortgage providers must give to prospective customers show closing costs soaring 36 percent this year". 

Here's another quote:

"Estimated charges for third parties such as appraisers and title insurers soared 47 percent."

The author's conclusion is that "the good-faith estimates are, well, being made in better faith".  I don't think that's really the case nor is it the logical answer to this survey. 

Now I can't speak for other companies nationwide obviously, but the Talon Group NW's title and escrow rates haven't changed all that much over the last few years.  Some fees have actually gone down!

The big change, in my opinion, is that fees shown on the new GFE reflect worst case scenario pricing which will not include any discounts available that the customer will receive at closing.  Doing this, the lender isn't on the hook for any cost overruns beyond the 10% limit.

Some discounts available include pre escrow discounts and discounts available for having both title and escrow at Talon.  Another example would be if you are using our guaranteed rate calculator to find a rate quote. We default to a worst case scenario when it comes to quoting title, escrow, excise tax and sales tax rates.  Ultimately, the customer could potentially pay lower fees than shown on the estimated GFE at closing for title insurance. A pleasant surprise for many borrowers at closing!

Another key point is whether or not Bankrate.com has factored out actual seller fees that are required by HUD to show as a buyer cost on the new GFE.  These fees include Excise Tax and Owner's Title Policy. 

A better study done would be what actual closing costs have done since the rules were in place, not estimated.  Would the aggregate closing costs increase?  Possibly and probably.  All the new regulations come with a cost, including new licensing fees and new taxes involved for lenders as well as increased staffing for compliance and underwriting.  The majority of closing cost increases we see are mainly due to increased regulations, which the fees are naturally being passed down to the customer.

The Talon Group has been, and will continue to be, as transparent about our fees as we can.  Our rates are filed with the State of Washington.  Our title and escrow rates area available to the public on our website.  We also have our guaranteed rate calculator available as well.  If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.

Thanks everyone

Photo courtesy of

Jinx!

Learn the 5 easy steps to "Hustle" your HUD-1 for short sales

Virtually every real estate professional has had to learn some new steps brought on by the "short sale". Among all the nuances in dealing with these transactions is having to prepare several estimated HUD-1 statements for the underlying lender(s). Naturally, escrow and title companies are called upon by real estate agents to create, change and shift the numbers to the liking of the bank's negotiators. These HUD requests typically don't come into escrow with a calm message of:

"oh hey, when you find a spare moment between closing current scheduled transactions, could you please make another small tweak to the Johnson's HUD-1?"

oh no, it's more like...

OMG, if you can't get a new (5th or 6th) HUD-1 out to Cold Hearted Bank Inc. within the next ten minutes, the bank is going to foreclose on my seller and destroy the dreams of Mr. & Mrs. Patient Buyers that have hung into this transaction for over 8 months. I wish I could do this myself. HELP!!!!

The Talon Group fully realizes how important it is to balance short sale demands with the many other activities associated in closing transactions. Even when our Escrow Officers are consumed with other files, their assistants have the expertise and authority to accommodate most HUD-1 tweaks that short sale lenders require.

But what if you need a HUD-1 at 8:00 AM Eastern Time or would just like an option of taking control of it yourself? What then?!! 

Please click the picture below and see just how EZ it is to create your own HUD-1.