Purchases, sales & refinances

“Are you buying, selling, or refinancing? Is it residential or commercial? If your answer is “yes” to any of these, then you’re talking to the right attorney!”

Lawyer and couple reviewing real estate closing documents in their home.

A core practice area for our firm is providing title and settlement services for real estate transactions, including purchases, sales, and refinances. We can provide these services for residential, investment, and commercial properties. We also routinely handle a range of different types of clients, ranging from first-time homebuyers, to senior citizens with reverse mortgages, to investors new to the market, and busy professionals needing a no-hassle refinance.

Our title services involve conducing an examination of the title of the property to determine all of the owners, current liens (such as mortgages), and whether there are any easements or restrictions. After we review this information, we then prepare a commitment for title insurance that lays out the details of the lender’s title insurance and owner’s title insurance policies that we will be issuing at the closing.

Our settlement and escrow services include everything that is needed to conduct the closing.

Purchases and Refinances

One part of this service (for purchases and refinances) involves gathering all of the final invoices that need to be paid at closing (including mortgage payoffs so that the seller’s old mortgage is fully discharged), collecting the money from the buyer and the new lender, and disbursing the funds. The other part of this service includes executing the closing documents with the buyer, answering any questions that they may have, receiving the corresponding seller document from the seller’s attorney, and sending originals back to the lender for funding, and to the town/city (Rhode Island) or county (Massachusetts) office for recording in the land evidence records. We package all of these standard services together for a flat fee.

Sales

As a seller, you will need to have documents prepared for your closing. The buyer’s attorney is customarily willing to do this, but if you’re paying for this service anyways, it only makes sense to retain your own attorney for independent representation, since there’s often only a slight price difference. One of the changes that has become permanent since COVID-19 is the “split closing” where the seller and buyer sign separately, and the title companies/closing attorneys coordinate delivery of the original documents by courier. We include this service as part of our standard flat fee for seller representations.

Interested in working with our practice?

We work with a variety of local businesses, insurance providers, and realtors in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to best serve our clients in an efficient and effective manner.

Need help with any legal issues?

Send us a message and we will discuss your case with you.

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