When The Sale of a Home Closes, It's an Anxious Day

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3. Uneventful closing on the sale of a house

where everything proceeds as it should is to be celebrated! Congratulations!

The last house I sold in 2018 resulted in a week of stress and anxiety. My estranged husband blew his brains out (not on the property) exactly one week prior to closing. For 24 hours I was on pins and needles waiting to hear if that would also delay the closing or give the buyers a reason to back out. All the attorneys agreed that due to the way we held title, ownership immediately passed to me and would not be subject to his Will.

My realtor attended the closing at the office of the attorney for the buyers. He told me I should see the proceeds hit my account by late in the day or the next morning. Well, 10 am the next day, the proceeds--all cash--had not reached my account. I called the attorneys office and was informed they wouldn't wire the funds until I confirmed verbally what I had already provided in writing to them. No one at no time had given me those instructions. Verbal approval? WTF? Since when does an attorney release funds on verbal authorization? The funds hit my account that afternoon.

Apparently sellers have been scammed out of wired funds here in NC. When I followed up with my realtor, he told me he knew of several sellers who had lost money because of wiring scams, one couple lost $100K.

So, if anyone is selling, check to find out what precautions are being employed by the closing attorney (who is selected by the buyer generally in NC) to prevent wire fraud of the proceeds from the sale.