Closing made simple.
Trusted. Experienced. Reliable.
The Vidclose difference
Convenience
We will come to you to close anywhere & anytime! One of our Concierge Closers will explain every document you sign. This service is complimentary. If you prefer to close at one of our offices, we have many to choose from throughout Florida.
Reliability
We have a team of attorneys that work on each purchase and sale. (Most Title Companies only have title agents, and most law firms have paralegals do the work). Combined, our team has closed 30,000+ properties.
Real Rebate and Price Match Guarantee
We are the only Title Company to offer you the Real Rebate®. We also provide our Price Match Guarantee and will match or beat any other title company’s combined fee for Owner’s Title Insurance policy premium and closing/settlement fee.
FAQs
Who picks the title company in a Real Estate transaction in Florida?
Everything is always negotiable – we like to start off by saying that. However, there are precedents that most transactions follow. In 64 out of the 68 counties in Florida the Seller traditionally picks the Title Company and pays for the Owner’s Title Policy. In Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier and Sarasota counties, the Buyer traditionally picks the title company and pays for the Owner’s Title policy.
Does the Seller always pay for Florida title Insurance?
Once again, everything can be negotiated. In 64 of Florida’s 68 counties the Seller picks the Title Company and pays for the Owner’s Title Policy There are two types of Title Policies involved when the Buyer is getting a loan.
- Owner’s Title Insurance Policy – This covers the new Buyer in a Real Estate Transaction and is not transferable. It’s good for a single transaction. If someone is added by Quit Claim onto the Deed after the transaction, or the owner’s name is changed into the name of a Corporation after the purchase, the policy becomes null and void.
- Lender’s Title Insurance Policy-This protects the Lender if a mortgage is to be held against this property. It is required to be purchased, and is paid for by the Buyer.
What is an Owner’s Title Insurance policy vs. a Lenders Title Insurance Policy?
The Owner’s Title Insurance Policy is to protect the Buyer in a Real Estate transaction from possible outstanding lien holders and missed liens on the property at the time of purchase. Once again, it is NOT transferable to a new owner.
The Lender’s Title Insurance Policy protects a Lender in a Real Estate transaction. It is purchased by the Buyer and is required by their Lender.
What fees does the Seller customarily pay for in a Florida Real Estate sale?
You can check out this link and also read more here for the answer to this question.
Once again, everything is negotiable, but the following are traditionally paid by the Seller in most FL counties:
Title Policy/Title Insurance Premium – Fee amount is based on the purchase price of the property and set by the state of Florida. The Seller usually pays this fee in all counties except Miami Dade, Broward, Collier and Sarasota.
Title Search Fee – Fee charged by a third party to perform the search of the history of the property.
Settlement/Closing Fee – Fee charged by the Title Company to perform their work for a Real Estate closing. This includes order processing, examination and review of title history, time spent resolving any title issues, preparing closing documents, actual time spent conducting the closing, postage, storage and any other fees the Title Company incurs to complete the transaction.
Doc Stamps/Deed Transfer Tax – This is a tax on the Sale of property by the County within which it occurred. It’s set by the county and varies based on the purchase price of the property.
Property Taxes – Outstanding property taxes as well as property taxes for the current year will be paid at closing. The Seller will pay a prorated amount of tax for the current year, based on the amount of time they have occupied the property.
HOA Fees
Estoppel – This is a mandatory document ordered from the HOA to determine outstanding dues, if any. All Home Owner Associations charge a fee for this, and it can vary based on the association.
Outstanding Dues – Once the Estoppel is received, the Seller is will pay the outstanding dues at closing, if applicable. A prorated amount of HOA dues are also the responsibility of the Seller, and are based on the length of time they have ownership of the property. Example: If HOA dues are paid monthly, and the transaction closes in the middle of the month, the Seller will be responsible for paying a prorated amount according to how many days of the month they owned the property.
Real Estate Broker Fees/Realtor Commission – If a Real Estate Agent was hired to sell the property, the fee for their services will be paid at closing.
Outstanding Mortgages – All outstanding mortgages will be paid in full at closing. The payoff amount will be updated up until the day of closing, to make sure the amount is accurate.
Outstanding Tax liens—If there are any outstanding tax liens on the property, they will be paid off at closing, from the proceeds of the sale.
Outstanding Liens – Overall, the Seller will be selling the property debt-free, so whatever liens are tied to the property will be paid off.
What does a Title Company do vs. an Escrow Company vs. a Law Firm in Florida?
In Florida, all three are able to handle the closing of a Real Estate Transaction from beginning to end. In other States, they may function differently. In California, for example, it’s common to have an Escrow company simply handle the holding of escrow and funds and the signing of all documents, while the Title Company simply clears Title and issues a Title Insurance Policy. This is not the case in Florida, where a Title Company performs all settlement functions.
What fees are set by the state of Florida?
The State of Florida sets the Title Policy Insurance Premiums. Vidclose is actually the ONLY Title Company in Florida to offer the Real Rebate. We will rebate you back a portion of the Title Policy Premium amount.
What fees vary by Title Company?
Settlement Fees are the biggest item that varies by Title Company. This fee also varies by county, along with the amount of work that is being done. Settlement Fees are higher for a loan transaction than a cash transaction.
Also, Artesian Title is the ONLY Title Company or law firm in Florida that offers the REAL REBATE, where you save up to 20% of your Title Policy Premium.
How does the Real Rebate save me up to 20% of my closing costs?
The Real Rebate amount is simply based on the purchase price of the property. We have a chart based on all purchase amounts, the Rebate amount is determined, and the Seller is rebated that amount at closing.
Where does the closing occur if I don’t want to come to one of your offices? What are my options?
We have several offices throughout Florida, but we focus on a few convenient ways for you to close on your Real Estate Transaction.
- You can, obviously, come in to close at one of our office locations.
- We can come to you with one of our Concierge Closers that actually explain every single page of the paperwork, anywhere and anytime you want to close. If you don’t want to leave work, no worries, we will meet you there. We offer this service complimentary for our clients.
- Remote Video Closings – On July 1, 2019, the State of Florida made a law that beginning on Jan 1, 2020, documents will be able to be e-signed and e-notarized. This means that you can hop onto your mobile device or tablet and we can facilitate the closing easily from anywhere you are.
What is a video closing?
A video closing is the ability to use any approved video platform with one of our Licensed Concierge Closers to sign and notarize all required documents in a closing. It’s convenient, and we believe it is the future of Real Estate closings. It just became law on July 1, 2019 and goes into effect January 1, 2020.
Can you help me write a Florida Real Estate contract with a buyer?
As a Title Company, we cannot do this. We are the middle and neutral player in the Real Estate transaction and are here to execute the terms of the contract. That’s all we are legally allowed to do.
What is FIRPTA, and does it apply to me?
FIRPTA (Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act) relates to Foreign Nationals that are selling their home.
- Is the Seller foreign? (No green card, no social security number, lives in a different country…)
- What is sales price? If it’s below $300k and, the buyer is going to use the property as their primary residence, and is willing to sign a homestead affidavit stating this, then FIRPTA is exempt.
- If the sales price is greater than $300k, then the IRS is expecting a check for 15% of the gross sales price.
- The IRS expects a check, or correspondence, from a FIRPTA expert seeking to get the amount reduced. A CPA or accountant that’s well-versed in dealing with FIRPTA can deal with this.
- If FIRPTA applies, and is not addressed, the IRS can go after the Seller and Seller’s property
- A REGULAR ACCOUNTANT CANNOT HANDLE THIS. We’ve seen this happen hundreds of times. A FIRPTA Seller needs to see documentation that the accountant is talking to the IRS and is very familiar with the process.
I am selling the home of a family member that passed away. What are the steps I need to take to sell it?
First and foremost, you need to make sure the property has gone through probate, unless it is held in a Trust. If it’s in a trust, you are good to go. We just need the proper documentation for either a Trust or Probate in order to proceed. Our team of attorneys won’t let anything go through until we have seen every document required, and more importantly we have VERIFIED with the courts that they legal documents.
Why is my Realtor pushing me to use a certain Title Company?
This is a delicate one to answer, because a lot of our business comes directly from Real Estate Agents. The bottom line is that many Realtors recommend a Title Company because that Title Company has done something for them, and in return, they push their clients to this company that has helped them. Our advice is this – DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. In this day and age, GOOGLE everyone, read the reviews, and trust what others have been through. First verify, then choose!
The Title company I picked has now changed the fees they had originally quoted me. How do I switch to you?
Unfortunately, this is a super common practice. If you want to switch to us, we will tell you this first. It will take us anywhere from 5 to 7 days to be able to close a transaction if it has no HOA. if it has an HOA it all depends on how long it takes the HOA to get back to us with the Estoppel. For some HOA’s, that can take up to 3 weeks. We also will most likely have to order our own title and lien search. While we want your business, we don’t like seeing closings and ultimately people’s lives delayed. We are all about YOU being taken care of. Call us and we will guide you through your decision-making process and see if it makes sense for you to switch. To be clear, we would LOVE to be your Title Company, but don’t want to see you inconvenienced to the point it doesn’t make sense to switch.
What are Doc Stamps/Deed Transfer Tax?
Documentary Stamps are a tax you pay to the county when you sell your property. The amount is based on the sales price of the property. In all counties except Miami-Dade, the Florida documentary stamp tax rate is $0.70 per $100 paid for the property. For example, the Documentary Stamp tax on a $200,000 home would equal $1,400.00.
When can I expect my final closing numbers so I can see what I will be getting from the sale?
At least 3 days prior to the sale. We will give you preliminary numbers a few times. They are going to CHANGE, and this is normal, so don’t get upset when it happens. It’s all about prorations and updated payoffs and other things that take place towards the very end of a transaction. This is true for every title company out there.
What is an Estoppel?
It’s a document provided by the Home Owner’s Association (HOA) outlining the current owner’s financial standing, past due balances, current fees due, and lists all special assessments.
How long will a cash closing take?
This answer depends on a few main items – HOA and Title Search results. If there is an HOA, it can take anywhere from 3 – 20 days to get the Estoppel from them. If there are issues with the Title Search, it could potentially take up to 20 days to fix. If there is no HOA, and the Title is clean, a cash deal can typically close in about 5 business days.
How quickly can a sale with a loan take?
It will take the Title Company 20 to 30 days, and the rest is up to the Lender and whether or not they have everything they need from the buyer to close.
As a Florida Title Company, knowing that Wire Fraud is a real and relevant threat, what do you do to prevent it?
We actually take this SUPER seriously, so our Fraud Prevention Program includes the below:
- We use Safe Escrow to send and receive all funds. This proprietary software verifies that all bank account numbers and names match before any wires are sent.
- All of our emails are sent using ZIX email security and any wiring instructions are sent encrypted.
- Our offices are protected by state-of-the-art servers which are all protected by zero day virus software and firewalls, updated daily for new virus protection.
Why am I getting so much less $ than what I’m selling my home for?
It’s because you have to pay things like Liens, Doc Stamps, Title Insurance, Realtor commissions and a whole list of other closing costs (varies by each individual closing). Usually a Seller will net between 89% – 91% of the sales price, before the mortgage payoff amount (if they owe a mortgage).
How do I reduce my costs in a Real Estate closing?
There are 2 areas that you can influence:
- Your Realtor Commission—This is the BIGGEST thing you pay for that you can actually influence, although our Real Estate partner friends would hate to hear us say this. This area is a point which you can always negotiate. Some Realtors and Brokers don’t negotiate, but just know you are paying 5% to 6% (of the Purchase Price) to them and it’s the highest area you can negotiate.
- Title Insurance – If you bought your home in the last three years and have your prior Owner’s Title Insurance Policy (we can try to help you locate it if you’ve misplaced it!), you will get a Rebate (called a Re-Issue Credit) on your Title Insurance policy. Just make sure you tell the Title Company. Vidclose actually proactively asks for this information, and remember, we are the only Title Company in Florida that offers the Real Rebate where we Rebate you up to 20% of the Title Policy.
Do I still make my mortgage payment or HOA payment if we are closing that month?
We tell everyone to always make your payment BUT let us know you are making it. If a closing gets delayed, you don’t want your credit affected. So ALWAYS make your payments.
I am selling this house after my divorce was finalized and the property is in both of our names. What will I need to provide to get this done?
Remember, this is a legal process, and our processes are reviewed and approved by Attorneys. With that said, they want proof that you can legally sell the home. They will need to see the Divorce Decree, and they will verify what was filed with the courts. Expect to give up private and personal divorce paperwork, but know that it will be kept private and it’s only used to verify there is no fraud going on.
Your Title and Escrow Company. Save time and money, and close anywhere & anytime. In-person, hybrid or fully remote!