Signing, recording, and your proceeds: the last week of the sale

Your signing appointment, and why it comes first

Sellers usually sign before buyers. Your documents do not depend on the buyer's lender, so escrow can prepare them as soon as payoff figures and the title work are in, and it schedules you several days ahead of the closing date. The buyer signs once the lender's closing package arrives, often the day before or the day of recording. Signing early is not a sign anything is off; it is how escrow keeps recording day uneventful.

The appointment takes thirty to forty-five minutes at the escrow office. A notary is present because the deed must be acknowledged. Bring current government-issued photo identification for every person on title; the name must match the deed. If a seller is out of the area, escrow can arrange a mobile notary or an approved remote online notarization, and the documents can be sent ahead by overnight courier. Tell your agent early if anyone on title will be traveling.

Read the settlement statement before you sign it. Jennifer, RexMont's transaction administrator, and your agent review the draft with you in advance so the appointment is confirmation, not discovery.

What you sign

The stack is shorter than the buyer's. The documents you will see on nearly every Washington sale:

• The statutory warranty deed, which transfers title to the buyer and is the document the county records. It is signed and notarized.
• The Real Estate Excise Tax Affidavit, the state form that reports the sale price and computes the excise tax. Both seller and buyer sign it, and the county will not record the deed without it.
• The settlement statement, showing the sale price, your payoffs, excise tax, commissions, prorated taxes, escrow and title charges, and the net proceeds to you.
• Escrow instructions, which tell escrow what to do with the documents and funds and match the terms of your purchase and sale agreement.
• A certification of non-foreign status for federal withholding purposes, and information escrow needs to report the sale to the IRS.
• The payoff authorization if you have not already returned it, and a request for your forwarding address and utility final-bill authorization.
• Your proceeds disbursement instructions, which tell escrow where to send your money.

Excise tax, payoffs, and what comes out of the price

Washington charges a real estate excise tax on the sale of real property, and Form 21 assigns it to the seller. The state portion is graduated by sale price, with rates and thresholds published by the Department of Revenue, and most King County cities add a local portion. Escrow computes the tax on the affidavit and pays it to the county at recording; you do not pay it separately. Your settlement statement shows the exact figure, and the Department of Revenue's site has the current schedule if you want to check the math.

Your mortgage and any other liens are paid from the sale price at closing using payoff statements escrow ordered in the final week. Interest accrues through the day the lender receives the funds, so the payoff figure includes a per-diem amount, and any overpayment is refunded by the lender afterward. Property taxes are prorated to the closing date. Commissions and the closing costs Form 21 assigns to the seller are paid from the price as well.

What remains is your net proceeds. The settlement statement is the document that shows how the sale price became that number, line by line, and your agent will walk through it with you before signing.

Recording day and how your proceeds are paid

Closing under Form 21 is the day the deed is recorded and the proceeds are available to you. In King County the deed and excise tax affidavit are recorded electronically with the King County Recorder's Office, typically in the morning once escrow confirms the buyer's loan funds have arrived. Escrow receives the recording numbers and then disburses: payoffs to your lenders, the tax to the county, commissions to the brokerages, and proceeds to you.

Proceeds are almost always wired. Wires released on recording day usually arrive in your account the same afternoon or the next business day, depending on your bank. A check is possible if you prefer, and escrow will tell you when it can be picked up or mailed.

Jennifer confirms recording with escrow and lets you and your agent know the moment the numbers post. Until recording has happened, the sale is not closed, and you should not act as if it is.

The wire-fraud rule, and keys and possession

One rule protects your proceeds: escrow collects your wiring instructions in person at signing or through a process it verifies with you by telephone, and it never changes them based on an email. If anyone emails or texts that escrow's instructions have changed, or asks for your account information by email, it is fraud. Call the escrow officer at the number on paperwork you already have, never a number in the message. Wire fraud relies on a rushed reply to a convincing email; a phone call to a known number defeats it.

Possession follows recording. Form 21 gives the buyer possession on the closing date at the time printed in the possession paragraph, unless the parties wrote in a different date or time, and calls for you to deliver keys, garage door openers, and codes at that point. Keys are never released before recording, even if you have signed and moved out.

On possession day, leave every key, remote, gate and alarm code, and mailbox key in one place your agent designates. Arrange for the sign and lockbox to come down after recording. Photograph final electric, gas, and water meter readings so any final-bill dispute has a record. The utilities guide covers the rest.