Offer on house while living overseas

[Constancia R.]

Hello, all. I have quite a few questions. We are currently living overseas and want to purchase a house in Indiana, as a rental investment. It will be a cash deal that we intend to refinance later. I've never purchased a house without being able to be there for the closing...or look at the house. So far, I have had my (inexperienced) son go look at it--it's not falling down. The Realtor seems trustworthy.

We will have the offer contingent on our approval of inspections. It's a wood-frame house, so we will have insect inspection included.

We'll also included that it must have a clear, marketable title.

I am thinking that we should put something in there that states that we will need to close within a certain time frame, too, since we intend to pay cash and the property is part of an estate--I don't want to end up waiting a year and tied to it, while it sits empty.

1) What is a good target closing date and how would we even word that?

2) From start to finish on a long-distance sale, can I just have them FedEx the docs and sign them with a notary, or is there a better way to handle things?

3) I know to direct the earnest money deposit to the realty company, but what is the best way to handle that?

Thank you. Looking forward to learning from you guys.

[Frank Geiger]

The Realtor should be able to help you out with most of this. They will have all the purchase contract for the state of Indiana saying your offer was approved and you have __ days inspection period (usually 10). The terminology is already in the contract so you shouldn't have to word anything.

1) You can say however many days you want but if the market is competitive 30 days is typically the norm.

2) All you need is a notary with you to sign the papers. I once bought a house in a tattoo shop because I was stationed in the middle of no where and he was the only notary for 100 miles. Then title will usually have you scan and overnight the papers. 

3) Title will handle escrow. A seasoned realtor has a title company they trust and prefer. Definitely verify any wiring instructions.