Charlottesville, VA · Member since 2014 · 37 posts · 8 votes
Hello, I am trying to close a deal on a property that is located in the USA, but the Seller is a German citizen, living in St. Leon-Rot Germany. Ideally, I think that the local German equivalent of a title company might be best, but I have no idea what the RE closing process in Germany is so I don't know whether they have such a thing, or if all closings are done by attorneys.
Bottom line, the seller has no access to a computer, and there's some language barrier, so I'm looking for someone local to the Seller to help me and the US title company by hand-delivering documents and probably assisting with translating on a conference call or two, for a fixed fee (not an agent's commission).
Any suggestions for something like this? Have tried searching online a bit but haven't found what I'm looking for, yet.
Real Estate Broker · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2016 · 569 posts · 351 votes
5y
The equivalent of a title company in Germany is a public Notary. They are automatically closing attorneys but you would just need them for the signature authentication the closing would be done in the US.
Real Estate Broker · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2016 · 569 posts · 351 votes
5y
The equivalent of a title company in Germany is a public Notary. They are automatically closing attorneys but you would just need them for the signature authentication the closing would be done in the US.
The equivalent of a title company in Germany is a public Notary. They are automatically closing attorneys but you would just need them for the signature authentication the closing would be done in the US.
Thanks for the response, Kai. I realize that the actual closing won't be processed in Germany, and actually Florida won't even recognize the German notary for signature authentication (but instead require the non-US-citizen Seller go to a US Embassy or consulate for notarization), but I'm having some issues with the Seller and am hoping to find a local professional that could work with the US title company already working on the deal, to ensure there's not an issue with language barrier, competency, identity theft, etc.
Just to provide a little more detail, the Seller had already signed my purchase and sale agreement and returned it to me along with a handwritten note (in English), committing to sell me the property at a specific price. We went to escrow, title company sent him the closing docs, FedEx tracking shows they were delivered over 2 weeks ago. When I called a few days ago to ask whether there were any issues preventing him from executing the deed / closing docs at the closest US Consulate (as we'd discussed previously), he denied having ever received the closing docs, and much worse, now denies having ever signed and returned the sale agreement to me in the first place, and is asking for a large price increase.
His English seems much better than my German, and I think he's just playing games / gotten cold feet, but if I'm going to salvage the deal, I think I need to take the language barrier, and this "I didn't receive that; don't know what you're talking about" game, off the table. I want an unbiased, local third party that can verify whether there's truly been some misunderstanding (e.g. he's senile, and/or someone intercepted his mail and forged the sale agreement), and barring those unlikely scenarios, might explain to the Seller the significance of having an executed agreement.
You confirmed what I thought I was seeing online, that in Germany the notary, is probably what I'm looking for. It is a weird situation, so hopefully one will be able to help.
Real Estate Broker · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2016 · 569 posts · 351 votes
5y
I personally bought properties in Florida while being in Germany as a German citizen. One deal even with foreign national financing in the US. The title company prepaid everything in FL send it over to me in Germany I took the paperwork to a German notary signed and send it back.
For a german citizen, it's not easy to just sign at a US embassy. There only a few US embassies in Germany and you have to get an appointment that can take months.
I personally bought properties in Florida while being in Germany as a German citizen. One deal even with foreign national financing in the US. The title company prepaid everything in FL send it over to me in Germany I took the paperwork to a German notary signed and send it back.
For a german citizen, it's not easy to just sign at a US embassy. There only a few US embassies in Germany and you have to get an appointment that can take months.
Out of curiosity, did you ever happen to sell any property that's located in Florida, while living in Germany as a non-US citizen? I've been told by the Florida title company that most of the documentation (possibly all documentation to buy a property) don't require a US notary, but the Seller's execution of the deed and owner's affidavit do. Last thing I would want is to pay this Seller his money only to find out down the road that I don't have clear title, but if I knew for a fact that signing at the embassy/consulate wasn't needed, that would definitely simplify things a little bit.
Aside from that, though, like I mentioned above, the other issue I'm dealing with is that when closing docs were already sent to the Seller (with a pre-paid return courier label) he claimed that he didn't receive them, despite tracking info indicating otherwise. This Seller needs some hand-holding and adult supervision that I can't provide from thousands of miles away.
Real Estate Broker · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2016 · 569 posts · 351 votes
5y
yes, I did sell the same way but had to deal with the withholding of 15% of the gross sales price for tax purposes as required by the U.S. Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act and is referred to as F.I.R.P.T.A.