First mistake made-I know it won’t be the last

[Michael Ryland]

I’m finally closing on my first long distance rental property in Missouri and I am very excited about it. I made the first mistake before closing. My lender sent me a bunch of documents to sign and notarize before overnighting the documents to the title company. Out of convenience I used the notary located at the local UPS Store. (SPOILER ALERT: DON’T DO THIS). I thought it would save me a stop if I just used them and then overnight the documents while I was there.

I got a bad feeling when the lady started taking things out of order and saying, “You don’t need that or that.” I should have grabbed my documents and left because I knew something was off. Needless to say the documents were done incorrectly and signatures and initials were missing. I felt like such a moron when the title company called to tell me about all of the things that were wrong. I reached out to a friend who referred me to a notary who specialized in real estate. (She was great.) But I had to pay a second notary fee and a second overnight fee.

It’s kind of embarrassing but sometimes it’s easier to fall on that grenade and admit I screwed up. Lesson learned. Lesson shared.