We never used to think twice about gathering around a conference room table with buyers and sellers and their agents. Passing pens, shaking hands and sharing in the celebration of a newly minted homeowner were scenes from a regular day at the office.

Coronavirus has changed all that.

The logistics of accommodating real estate closings in a world of social distancing have been challenging and at times nerve-wracking. Even before lockdown orders took effect, signers at the closing table were expressing uneasiness about the pens and enclosed conference rooms, and title companies were doing their best to accommodate for clients’ concerns.

As the novel coronavirus was creeping into our community, mortgage rates were already dropping and have continued to drop to near-historically low levels. The demand for refinancing in particular has skyrocketed as Americans look to lower monthly payments.

To legally complete their transactions, a title company is needed. Title companies are a third party whose purpose is to review the chain of title, issue insurance policies, facilitate the closings and file and record all paperwork.

With a clean chain of insured title, lenders can sell their mortgage notes on the secondary market, freeing their ledgers so they can loan money to the next borrower.

Borrowers may be accustomed to applying for home loans and shopping for real estate online, but in the majority of states the real estate closing process still requires notarized, wet-ink signatures on the promissory note and deed – usually completed during closing at that conference room table.

Under lockdown, people are scared to leave the safety of their homes and many are nervous about inviting outsiders into their homes to finalize their closing documents.

In response, many title companies have transformed into drive-throughs, passing essential loan documents through rolled-down car windows. But this method doesn’t resolve the primary concern, which is how to maintain the CDC-recommended minimum 6-foot distance between signers during the closing.

Federal Title & Escrow Company, an independent title company with two locations in D.C. and a third in Rockville, recently introduced its REALSafe™ contactless closing solutions as a safer alternative to help real estate agents, borrowers and sellers maintain a safe social distance throughout the real estate closing process so that business can push forward.

Borrowers can work with their lenders to choose from 3 contactless closing solutions: remote online notary, Power of Attorney or mobile notary.

For consumers this means they can continue buying and selling real estate knowing their transaction can close safely, and for agents it means being able to safely move forward producing a livelihood. 

As homebuying activity increasingly moves into the digital realm, consumers will expect their real estate service providers to meet them there. 

Federal Title’s REALSafe™ closing solutions represent the absolute safest methods to close a refinance or home sale and purchase transaction in today’s real estate environment – and the most convenient, cost-efficient ways to close transactions in the real estate world of tomorrow.

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