It is important to us that the buyer and seller are directly involved with scheduling their own closing appointments. We know that realtors like to help, but it will also be more work for you to call the client, find their availability, contact us to set an appointment, call the client back to confirm, etc. than it would be for us to just speak with them directly. Moreover, this ensures that clients are aware of all of our scheduling options when selecting the closing that is right for them.
Before we instituted this policy, we found that buyers and sellers often showed up at wrong places, were confused about where to go, or didn’t know they had options regarding the manner and method of closing. As we have a client-first mentality, this wasn’t the experience we were looking for. We know this might be different for you, but we are confident that after it’s all over, you will see that our model for scheduling works incredibly well and is much more efficient than send emails back and forth to try and set a time through a realtor or transaction coordinator.
First, we can do closings fully online using a remote online notary. Note, this is not an e-signature and it’s not limited to cash buyers. We can offer online closings to all sellers and buyers with loans in most transactions. Moreover, as we were the first (and arguably still only) title company in Kansas City offering online closings, we have done 100’s of them and are very experience with how to make an online closing as painless and easy as possible.
Although about 60% of our closings involve one or more parties closing online, we also offer in person closings. Our first option is to close in our office located at 91st and Metcalf in Overland Park. In addition to being a more traditional in-person signing, we also offer a unique “Closing Experience” where the buyer or seller can celebrate a successful closing with a dance party involving party music and.a colored light show.
Finally, if neither of these options is right for the buyer or seller, we can send a signing agent to them — any where in the U.S. — to complete the closing. The signing agent can go to their home or office, or can meet them at a public place like a coffee show, and all they need to bring is their ID and a smile (and the smile is optional).
We’ve found that there is no advantage to scheduling a closing really early. As we noted, we have virtually unlimited availability so there is no reason to get an appointment scheduled early to avoid the time not being available or the scheduling “filling up.” To date, we’ve never said no to a requested closing time scheduled the business day prior to the closing.
Moreover, as we are client-focused, we want to ensure that we involve the client in scheduling and that they have the primary say when it comes to the time and manner for their closing. As such, we have established the below procedure for scheduling closings.
When a file is initially opened up, the buyer and seller are sent our intake forms that are used to gather information we need for the closing, such as their personal information, payoffs, lender contact info, etc. This form will also ask their closing preferences. If the buyer or seller selects that they want to close online, no further scheduling is needed as our online closings are “on-demand” 24 hours a day, every day but Sundays.
If the party selects that they would prefer an in-person closing, or the lender is one of the few with online notary restrictions, we will send a scheduling request to the buyer or seller about a week prior to the closing via Qualia. This allows the buyer or seller to select the time and location that is best for them on their own schedule and when they have time instead of squeezing in calls during a busy work day.
If the party does not complete the online scheduling form, we will reach out with a phone call about 3 days prior to the closing. We’ll follow up as necessary to ensure that we have a closing scheduled prior to the closing.
Obviously, when we schedule directly with the parties, it will free up your time to work on other things, such as landing that next listing or ensuring your paperwork is in order. More importantly though, it will help you to have happier clients who will rave to their friends about the great closing experience they had working with you.
We survey every single one of our clients following each closing and read all of the comments so as to be constantly improving. We have found that while some realtors don’t like that they are less involved in scheduling, buyers and sellers overwhelming prefer our method of handling scheduling to more traditional models. We constantly receive feedback about how parties had a better closing experience with us than with other title companies or how things were much easier than they expected. When the buyer or seller has a better experience with us, it reflects on you as the realtor who helped guide them through the closing process.
If a buyer or seller elects an online closing, there is no specific appointment as our online closing are on-demand, 24 hours a day, every day but Sunday. How it will work is that we will send out an email the business day prior to closing with a copy of all of the closing docs and instructions on how to complete the online closing session. You will be copied on that email. They will then receive a separate email just to them with the link they can use to complete their notary session.
If a party elects a closing in our office or where one of our signing agents goes to them, we will send out a calendar invite via Qualia to the parties how are signing and you as their agent. You are welcome — but not required — to attend as your schedule allows and according to your personal preferences.
Whether the closing is online, in our office, or remote, you can track along with the process, including seeing if lender funds have been received, if we are waiting for lender approval, and when the file is closed, all in Qualia. We will also send you a notification when the file is closed with a copy of the signed settlement statements for your compliance records. Once the deed (and other docs) are recorded, you’ll get another notification letting you know the file is fully closed and with a copy of the deed for your reference. Your client will continue to have access to all of their closing docs, including recoded docs and title polices (as is applicable) through our client portal following the closing.