Seller Information
Congratulations on the Purchase of your home! The tips below will help us assist you with your closing. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Social Security Number/Federal Tax ID
Federal and State law requires that we obtain your social security number or federal tax id number (if you are a corporate seller or trust) for reporting purposes. Also, most lenders will require us to provide your social security number in order to obtain a payoff of your mortgage. We do not share this information with any other parties unless required to do so by law or in order to obtain information required to close.
Payoffs
Please provide us with the name, telephone number and account numbers for your current lenders (including second mortgages and equity lines of credit). We will need to obtain payoffs even if you have a zero balance. Please be aware that some lenders take as long as five to ten days to provide us with a current payoff statement. Some lenders will charge you a fee for providing us this information, for fax/wire fees or for recording/handling fees. These fees (if applicable) will be included at the time of closing.
Termite Letter
If a termite inspection or termite guaranty is a contingency of your closing, please provide a copy to our office as soon as possible. It should be dated no later than 30 days prior to the date of closing. In addition, if you have already paid for the services please provide a paid receipt. If the report has not been paid for we may collect for it on the settlement statement.
Home Warranty
If a home warranty is a contingency of your closing, please provide the information to us as far in advance of closing as possible.
Home Owner’s Associations
If your property is subject to a Home Owner’s Association (“HOA”) we will require a letter prior to closing showing the amount of the dues per year or month and when due, amount of initiation fee (if any), special assessments (if any), and current balance. Please provide a contact name, address and phone number so that we can request the letter. Please be advised that many associations and/or the management companies charge fees to provide us with a letter and often these fees must be paid by you prior to the issuance of the letter.
Title Concerns
Please notify us immediately if there is a divorce, separation, death, trust, bankruptcy or other potential problem associated with your property. We will need contact information and copies of any relative documents to ensure clear title.
Funds
If you are required to bring funds to sell your property please be aware of the following: Our ability to accept funds for a closing are dictated by Georgia law. We will only accept a wire transfer for amounts of $5,000.00 and above. For amounts between $1,000.00 and $4,999.99, we will accept a certified check from a U.S. Bank. For amounts under $1,000.00 we will accept a personal check from a U.S. Bank. Please contact us for wiring instructions or click here.
Please note that some online banks will not process wires, so you must transfer funds over $5,000.00 to another bank and then request a wire. Also, some banks (such as Bank of America) erroneously describe their online transfers as wires when, in actuality they are ACH’s (automated clearing house). We are unable to accept ACH’s. Any ACH received will be rejected and will take 3-5 days for your bank to receive and reprocess. Please go to the bank branch whenever possible to initiate a wire to avoid any potential problems.
Closing Documents
The seller(s) will be required to sign the following documents. Please keep in mind that this is just a sample of documents and that you may be required to sign additional or different documents;
- Settlement Statement/Closing Disclosure: This is an itemized list of all costs involved in the transaction. You may want to refer to your Good-Faith Estimate for a preliminary summary of these items.
- Warranty Deed: This is the document that transfers title from you to the purchaser(s).
- Seller/Owner’s Affidavit: This is an affidavit whereby the owner asserts, among other things, that there are no liens, claims or judgments against the property and that the owner has good title to the property.
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Seller’s Affidavit of Residence and Withholding Tax Affidavit: This is an affidavit whereby the owner states that they are/are not a residence of the state of Georgia and that this was/was not their primary residence. In situations where the property was not a primary residence there may be special taxes due to the State of Georgia and/or the IRS that must be collected at closing.
What to bring to the closing
- Identification: Bring a valid, unexpired form of government issued identification (such as driver’s license or passport) to the closing. This will be required from all title holders.
- Power of Attorney: Bring an original Power of Attorney, if applicable.
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Other Important Items: Bring keys, garage door openers, manuals or any other documents for the purchaser.