The NIGHTMARE of closing a deal overseas as a beginner

[Tanner McGrew]

         I will try to keep this short, but unlikely lol! 

        I am from the United States, WV specifically, but I live overseas playing basketball for 9-10 months out of the year. We were in the process of closing our first deal when our loan officer shocked us with the fact that the final closing had to be done on US soil. Of course this was impossible with work, but they informed us that the US embassy is an option. The only problem with that is its very hard to take off from my job, the embassy is 3 hours away, and due to Covid only have 1 day of appointments for Notarial services per week.

      Luckily my wife and I were able to make the trip one Monday morning at 5:30 AM (12:30 AM EST so no one was awake to help us. Because of this, all of the paperwork had to be to us by the end of business on that Friday.) After signing all of the papers we were sent and mailing them back with next day international UPS shipping, we headed back home for a total of 8.5 hours of a trip. 

       After arriving home, I checked my email and our contact at the title company had written me during the drive that our paperwork was incorrect and needed to be changed. LIKE I TOLD HER THE WHOLE WEEK BEFORE THAT, I needed that information prior to the trip. We had to call the Notary  we worked with at the embassy (incredibly helpful and all around lovely) and ask for permission to change the closing location to Lisbon, Portugal rather than the Morgantown Location. Thankfully she agreed and all was well.... I thought.......

        30 Minutes before heading to my evening practice, (during the week of the championship series mind you...) another email comes through with a "heads up" of the papers that needed wet signed at the Embassy. I froze. A 53 page document in front of me that I had never laid eyes on. I instantly emailed/called everyone on my RE team freaking out. Had I missed the document? I checked 1000 times before leaving for the embassy that I had everything expected of me. Sure enough, another email comes through shortly after with, "I'm so sorry guys, I forgot to send you all of the closing documents. Is there any way you can go to the embassy again?" No. The answer was obviously no, just like I had said time and time again leading up to this disaster. We had to renegotiate with the sellers to extend closing 3 weeks when we arrive back in WV. Reluctantly, they accepted, and I believe we are good to go. I will believe it when I am holding the keys lol

• Throughout all of this I have learned several things: My father will be getting POA for all things real estate while I am out of the country. The deed of trust requires a wet signature. Nobody prioritizes you quite like you, and I'm never using this title company again.

               Has anyone ever closed on deals outside of the country? Any tips? Are there ways to make it less of a headache?