Selling DVC - Comparison of Title Companies

[MouseOfCards]

We recently sold several of our contracts. Here's some of the main differences between the Title companies that stood out to us:

Magic Vacation
- Required 5 pages to be notarized for each contract. Most notaries were charging $15 per signature, so at 2 signatures per page, that adds up to $150 in notary fees per contract. This resulted in several hours waiting on notaries to sign our contracts. And the costs add up quickly.
- Required 2 witness signatures for each contract. Arranging for this was not easy and resulted in a few delays.
- Required us to send them copies of our photo IDs.

First American
- Required 3 pages to be notarized for each contract.
- Did not require any witness signatures.
- Did not require copies of our photo IDs.

Don't know why the Title companies have different requirements. Not looking to bash anyone, but just sharing our recent experience.

 

[momtwoboys]

and some are quick to send out those closing documents days after rofr and some are month long. Should have asked for a certain company instead of the one assigned.

 

[AwfulWaffle]

Should have asked for a certain company instead of the one assigned

Wish I would have done this on our second purchase. I too didn’t realize the process so greatly from title company to title company. Lesson learned in case resale contract 3 ever happens

 

[Cybertruck]

I have not been active for a long period of time. Good stuff. Looking at selling and buying. The DVC family is a wonderful!

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks for sharing. I have sold several contracts with different t companies..and we found the process similar in terms of documents needing motorizing and IDs.

It’s interesting to me that First American didn’t require since we had to send those in when we added our children to our deed for SSR!

 

[MagicDVC]

Couldn't you go to a bank and get the documents notarized for free? We just sold and just took the documents to our bank for notary. I may be mistaken, but I also thought FL requires 2 witnesses for deed transactions.

 

[Phatscott25]

Or your city hall. I work for a municipality in MI and we notarize for free for residents. Most neighboring municipalities do as well.

 

[DonMacGregor]

The UPS Store is, hands-down, the absolute best place to get docs notarized. There are literally thousands of them, you don't need to make a reservation (just call to make sure the notary is working/not at lunch), they don't charge for witnesses, and if a witness IS required, as long as there's another employee working when you're there, they will act as a witness. Keep in mind too, that Florida allows the notary to also serve as a witness, so you only need one extra person on a Florida deed (regardless of where you are getting your docs notarized)..

 

[DonMacGregor]

Couldn't you go to a bank and get the documents notarized for free? We just sold and just took the documents to our bank for notary. I may be mistaken, but I also thought FL requires 2 witnesses for deed transactions.

Florida is one of only 5 states that allow the notary to also serve as a witness, so you only need one extra person to witness a Florida deed.

 

[momtwoboys]

some banks charge, some dont. some ups stores have that service and many areas do not have a full sevice store like that local.

 

[DonMacGregor]

some banks charge, some dont. some ups stores have that service and many areas do not have a full sevice store like that local.

It's true that the smaller "local" UPS Stores may not provide notary services, but there are so many that do that you can find one within a reasonable driving distance just about anywhere in the country. That's why I just shake my head when I see the "it took the seller 2 weeks to find a notary" posts in the Closing Time thread (not to mention that fact that you'd think a seller would maybe spend some time planning to get the docs notarized instead of waiting until they have the closing docs in hand, especially if they really do live in a remote area).

 

[Sandisw]

The UPS Store is, hands-down, the absolute best place to get docs notarized. There are literally thousands of them, you don't need to make a reservation (just call to make sure the notary is working/not at lunch), they don't charge for witnesses, and if a witness IS required, as long as there's another employee working when you're there, they will act as a witness. Keep in mind too, that Florida allows the notary to also serve as a witness, so you only need one extra person on a Florida deed (regardless of where you are getting your docs notarized)..

Our local UPS stores do require you to make an appointment on the days the notary will be there.

But our banks also have them and as you say, will have an employee there act as a second witness.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Couldn't you go to a bank and get the documents notarized for free? We just sold and just took the documents to our bank for notary. I may be mistaken, but I also thought FL requires 2 witnesses for deed transactions.

We initially went to one of our local banks to get notarized. We were there for almost an hour for one contract. The notary was not happy the entire time and said that he had another appointment and that we should go elsewhere for future large signings.

We then went to another large local bank that we had used their notaries in the past. This bank said that they now only had one notary (the others had all let their notaries expire) who had a wrist injury and would only do 1 page for us. They said their notary service was a courtesy and only for 1 or 2 signatures.

We went to a third bank where the notary said that they could not do timeshares or real estate transactions as their liability coverage did not allow it.

Sounds like it's time to look for some new banks to bank with.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Or your city hall. I work for a municipality in MI and we notarize for free for residents. Most neighboring municipalities do as well.

Never thought of this. Will have to contact them next time to see if this is an option. Thanks!

 

[MouseOfCards]

The UPS Store is, hands-down, the absolute best place to get docs notarized. There are literally thousands of them, you don't need to make a reservation (just call to make sure the notary is working/not at lunch), they don't charge for witnesses, and if a witness IS required, as long as there's another employee working when you're there, they will act as a witness. Keep in mind too, that Florida allows the notary to also serve as a witness, so you only need one extra person on a Florida deed (regardless of where you are getting your docs notarized)..

We eventually went to UPS for our remaining contracts. They were definitely more efficient than the bank, but still missed the notary stamp on one of the pages when we checked.

By the way, none of the banks we went to, nor UPS, would allow any employee to sign as a witness.

 

[DonMacGregor]

We eventually went to UPS for our remaining contracts. They were definitely more efficient than the bank, but still missed the notary stamp on one of the pages when we checked.

By the way, none of the banks we went to, nor UPS, would allow any employee to sign as a witness.

That's unfortunate. I've had 9 resale contracts and probably close to 50 deposition transcripts notarized at one of three UPS stores within 10 minutes of my home and never had one lick of trouble. When we went to remote during covid, we let our two in-house admins with notary licenses go, so all of us have had to source our own notary services since, and UPS has been a godsend. The closest one to my house is in the same center where my local Chase branch is, and even with Chase Private Client service available, I'll always stick with the simplicity of the old UPS guys. I've also never had any of the three stores fail to simply provide a second witness either. Possibly a regional thing?

Now, if only UPS would accept FedEx drop-offs (LOL)...

As an aside, what the heck did your bank mean by "large signings"? Even with multiple buyers/sellers, a DVC contract isn't THAT large (and it's really just the number of signatures, the number of pages means nothing).

ETA: I just looked at the UPS Store website under notary services and found this:

• Laws vary by state and some documents may require witnesses in addition to the notarization. In some cases, a notary public might not be legally allowed to also, simultaneously, act as a signature witness. Accordingly, not all locations are staffed to provide additional signature witnessing services. Check with your local store if you wish to inquire as to the availability of signature witnesses, if such a requirement is mandated by the laws of your state.

The emphasis was added by me, but that reads like the only stumbling block is whether or not another employee is actually there to serve as the witness. The next sentence just advises you to check to see if someone is available to witness, not if they are permitted to.

 

[AwfulWaffle]

Now, if only UPS would accept FedEx drop-offs

 

[StoweFoSho]

Remote online notaries are also available and are quick and easy to use.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Remote online notaries are also available and are quick and easy to use.

This 100%. I'm surprised none of the resale title companies use online notary services. It works very well for Disney. From what I understand, it's about $25 or $30 for on seal and %10 per additional seal. I have to imagine people would pay that all day (or double) just to be done with the whole thing in 5 minutes. No stress about getting everyone in one place, finding a notary, scheduling, driving to the notary's office, etc. Would I pay an extra $25 to get everything done without leaving the house and within a day of receiving the documents? You bet!

 

[MagicDVC]

This 100%. I'm surprised none of the resale title companies use online notary services. It works very well for Disney. From what I understand, it's about $25 or $30 for on seal and %10 per additional seal. I have to imagine people would pay that all day (or double) just to be done with the whole thing in 5 minutes. No stress about getting everyone in one place, finding a notary, scheduling, driving to the notary's office, etc. Would I pay an extra $25 to get everything done without leaving the house and within a day of receiving the documents? You bet!

When we sold, magicvacationtitle.com has an online notary service that provided everything from notary to witnesses. It was a $150 service that we declined as we knew we were able to get notary services at our local bank.