Seller services

  • Review any agreement with a real estate broker or assist in deciding whether you should sell the property yourself.
  • Negotiate and prepare the offer to purchase and the purchase and sale agreement to protect your interests and concerns.

Resolve issues that may arise during the time from purchase and sale to the closing including:

  • Settle any issues that may be found in the examination of your property’s title.
  • Prepare the deed transfers from you to your buyer.
  • Assist in the coordination of the closing and represent you at the closing
    including a review of all closing documents to explain their significance to you.
  • Answer questions you might have and resolve disputes that may arise at any time during the purchase and closing process.

Please remember that you must bring a valid drivers license or passport with you to the closing for proper identification. 

Required seller preparation to close a sale 

Our office has been selected to act as settlement agent for the real estate that you own. There are some matters that we will require your assistance to expedite the transaction and prevent delays or extra costs incurred by you. They include:

  • Mortgages:  If your property has a mortgage, the mortgage(s) will be paid off at the time of closing using proceeds from the sale, if any.  You must provide Teitelbaum Law with the information needed so we may contact the lender(s) and make the necessary arrangements for payment.
  • Deed The preparation of a new deed to convey the premises to the buyer is your responsibility. You should have your attorney send us a copy of the proposed deed as soon as possible and before the closing date. While we cannot represent the lender and you, we are sometimes asked to prepare a deed as part of our mortgage services. If you ask us to prepare your deed, there will be a charge to you of $150.
  • Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors certificate: You should contact your local fire department, arrange for an inspection, obtain a certificate of compliance and bring the original with you at the time set for closing and fax a copy to us prior to closing.
  • Electricity, water, sewer, fuel:  If your electricity is provided by a municipal light plant, you must bring with you a final electric reading.  Similarly, oil readings should be provided so we can make an adjustment at closing.
  • Expenses: You will also be required to pay for Massachusetts Excise stamps, recording fees to discharge mortgages and other liens and, where appropriate, to pay these items from the proceeds of the sale.
  • Condominium units:  If the transaction involves a condominium unit, you are required to provide a certificate pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 183A, Section 6(d).  This certificate is obtained from the organization of unit owners and states the unpaid common expenses which have been assessed to the unit owner.  You will also be required to provide a Certificate of Insurance naming, as the insured, the buyer and the buyer’s new lender as well as its successors and assigns as their interests may appear.  It is imperative that the foregoing language be on the certificate of insurance.  The trustees of the condominium trust can assist you in this matter.
  • Sales proceeds:  If the closing takes place in our office, we will make every attempt to record papers and disburse funds on the same day.  However, no matter where this transaction closes, your funds will not be released to you until the deed and mortgage have been recorded at the appropriate Registry of Deeds. Your proceeds will be issued to you by a check drawn on our Conveyancing Trust Account as is the standard procedure in Massachusetts.
  • Trust ownership:  If this property is owned by a trust, our office also requires a trustee’s certificate.  This certificate should state that the trust has not been terminated, amended or revoked; that the trustee (s) are the same and they have not resigned; and that so far as may be required by the beneficiaries, they have assented to the transaction and that they are of legal age and competent.  In addition, the statement should be acknowledged before a notary public and be in the form suitable for recording.  We can prepare such a certificate for $100.00
  • Foreign investment in real property Tax Act of 1980 as Amended:  This federal law places special requirements for tax reporting and withholding related to a real estate transaction under certain circumstances where non-U.S. citizens or entities are involved.  You should consult an attorney or accountant concerning the effect of this Act on this transaction.  You will be required to execute a copy of a certificate at the closing.  If you do not plan on attending the closing, please be sure that your attorney or agent delivers the fully completed and executed copy of the affidavit along with the deed.  The closing attorney for the lender cannot and will not provide information, advice or opinions regarding the Act’s applicability to you or to this transaction.
  • Closing.  You should also be aware that most lenders require 72 hours notice in advance of the day of closing to prepare the loan papers and to obtain the funds.  There is no exception to this requirement and it is therefore incumbent upon you to coordinate scheduling of the passing not only with our office but with the buyers and brokers as well.
  • Federal tax laws.  Federal Law requires the closing attorney to report the proceeds of the transaction to the Internal Revenue Service.  Therefore, we will ask you to complete a form and be sure to include your Social Security or Federal Identification Number.
  • Title examination.  If, as the result of searching the title or obtaining the plot plan and municipal lien certificate, we discover that there are any deficiencies or defects, they are your responsibility to correct or to have your attorney do so on your behalf or determine your rights, duties and obligations under your purchase and sale agreement.
  • Corporations and LLCs:  If you hold title to the property in a corporate name or in an LLC or LLP you should immediately take steps to secure the following documents:
    —Certificate of Good Standing and Legal Existence from the Secretary of State;
    —-For corporations, a waiver of the corporate excise tax lien imposed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Revenue under M.G.L. Chapter 62C, Section 51 or statement on the deed that the sale does not constitute a sale of substantially all of the Corporation’s assets or this is a sale in the ordinary course of business.

Our Firm’s Privacy Policy

This notice is provided to you pursuant to the Privacy of Consumer Financial Information Act and the Federal Trade Commission’s implementing regulation thereunder, 16 CFR Part 313.

  1. We collect non-public personal information about you that we receive from you on applications or other forms either directly from you or from lenders and their affiliates or agents;
  2. We do not disclose any non-public personal information about our clients, borrowers, or sellers to anyone, except as is necessary in the mortgage loan process as required or permitted by law to conclude the transaction with the lender that you have requested, and to prevent fraud or unauthorized transactions.
  3. We restrict access to non-public personal information about you to only those lenders, third-parties, and employees who need to know that information to provide the requested settlement services to you.  We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard your non-public personal information.

264 North Main Street | Natick, MA 01760 | Tel: 508-655-9898 | Fax: 508-655-9805 | lteitelbaum@lhtlaw.com

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