Most sellers and buyers have no experience with title companies. For this reason, they depend on their agent to find the company that will be best for them. If there is no agent involved, the seller and the buyer usually make the decision by mutual agreement. You may have found a title company to work with you when you were building your team. (See Chapter 8.) As long as the buyer is comfortable with the title company, you can move forward with the one you have chosen.

According to the Federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (R.E.S.P.A.), 12 U.S.C. § 2608 provides that a seller or seller's broker may not require the buyer, as a condition of sale, to purchase title insurance from any particular title company if the buyer uses a federally related loan to help purchase the property, irrespective of who pays for the title insurance.

The change of title is accomplished with a signed grant deed from seller to buyer and recorded with the county recorder's office. In the western portion of the country, all the paperwork and signings are completed in advance of the close of escrow. The buyer's funds are wired to the escrow company the day before escrow closes. On rare occasions, the funds are wired the day of close. Once funds are received, the documents that need to be recorded, most commonly the deed and the loan documents, are sent by courier to the county recorder's office. When the courier submits them, the county recorder officially confirms receipt of the recordable documents, and the property changes hands.

In the eastern portion of the country, all the paperwork and signings are done at the closing table. The buyers and sellers and their agents and attorneys all come to the table together. If you cannot go to the closing, you can appoint your attorney to be at the closing in your stead, but being at the closing yourself is customary. The grant deed and any other paperwork are signed. Keys, money, and paperwork are exchanged. Loan funds are usually wired to the closing, but the buyers present their cashier's check at the closing table. It is at this time that the property changes hands. The attorney insures that the grant deed and loan documents are recorded with the county on that day or the following morning.