Under contract on a Dallas home: what the title company is doing for the next 30 days

The contract is signed and now everything has gone quiet

The offer was accepted, the earnest money was sent somewhere called a title company, and you have a closing date four or five weeks out. In between, your agent says things like "title is working on it" and you wonder what that means. If you are the seller, you may be worried about an old lien, a divorce decree or an estate that was never fully settled. If you are the buyer, you want to know your money is safe and that nobody else can show up later claiming a piece of the house.

We at Capital Title carry residential and commercial files from contract to funding every day from our Preston Road office in Dallas, and the quiet period is not quiet for us. This guide explains what is actually happening to your file, what tends to delay a closing, and which problems you can head off this week instead of the day before closing.

What title really means, and why a search is not a formality

Title is the legal right to own and transfer a property. When a seller signs a deed, they can only convey what they actually hold. If a prior owner never paid off a home equity loan, a contractor filed a lien, a tax bill went unpaid, or a deceased owner's heirs never signed off, those claims travel with the property. A buyer who closes without knowing about them inherits the problem.

The title search is how we find these things before you own them. We examine the recorded history of the property in the county records: deeds, mortgages and their releases, liens, judgments, easements, restrictions and probate filings. The result is a title commitment, a document that lists what we found, what must be cleared before closing, and what will be excepted from coverage. It goes to you, your agent and your lender, and it is worth reading rather than filing away.

In Dallas County and across Texas, the title company also acts as the escrow agent. That is the second half of the job: holding the earnest money, collecting the lender's funds and the buyer's cash to close, paying off the seller's mortgage and other liens, paying the agents and the taxes, and disbursing the seller's proceeds, all in the right order on the same day.

The problems that most often show up in a Dallas title search

Most files close on time, but when one stalls it is usually for one of a handful of reasons, and almost all of them live on the seller's side of the file. Knowing them lets a seller fix them early and a buyer ask the right questions.

• A mortgage or home equity loan that was paid off years ago but never had its release recorded
• An estate where the deceased owner's will was never probated, so the heirs cannot sign a clean deed
• A divorce decree that awarded the house to one spouse but no deed from the other spouse was ever filed
• Unpaid property taxes, homeowners association assessments or municipal liens
• A survey that shows a fence, driveway or structure crossing a boundary or an easement
• A judgment against someone with the same or a similar name, which has to be ruled out
• A name mismatch: the seller holds title as one name and signs the contract as another

What you can do this week to protect your closing date

Sellers: gather every document related to how you took title and what you owe. That means your own closing documents from when you bought, payoff information for every mortgage or line of credit on the house, your HOA contact, and, if you inherited the property or went through a divorce while owning it, the probate or decree paperwork. If you have an existing survey, send it to the title company now; we can often use it instead of ordering a new one, which saves money and time. Tell your escrow officer about anything unusual up front, because a lien we learn about on day three is a routine payoff and a lien we learn about on day twenty-eight is a delay.

Buyers: read the title commitment when it arrives and ask about anything you do not understand, especially easements and restrictions, because those stay with the property after closing. Confirm your lender has everything it needs, since lender delays are the other common reason a closing moves. Decide early whether you want an owner's policy of title insurance; the lender's policy protects only the lender. And make sure every person who will be on the deed is available to sign on the closing date, or arrange for a power of attorney or a remote signing ahead of time.

• Sellers: payoff statements, prior closing documents, HOA contact, any existing survey
• Sellers: probate or divorce documents if ownership changed during your time in the house
• Buyers: read the commitment, ask about easements and restrictions, confirm lender timing
• Buyers: decide on an owner's policy and plan for how every signer will sign
• Everyone: verify wiring instructions by phone with a known number before sending any funds

When to pick up the phone instead of waiting for an email

Call your escrow officer the moment any of these happen: a death or divorce involving someone on the title, a lien or judgment you had forgotten about, a dispute with a neighbor over a fence or driveway, a change to the loan program or lender, or a request to change who is buying or how they will hold title. Each of these changes the documents we prepare, and the earlier we know, the more options you have.

Also call if you receive an email with new or changed wiring instructions. Wire fraud targeting real estate closings is real and it works by sending convincing emails at the last minute. We will never change wiring instructions by email, and you should never send funds without confirming by phone using a number you already have, not one in the email. In my experience, a two-minute call is the cheapest protection in the entire transaction.

How we take a file from contract to funding

When a contract names Capital Title, we open the file, receipt the earnest money and send everyone confirmation. The examination begins immediately, and the title commitment usually follows within days. We then work the requirements on that commitment: ordering payoffs, requesting releases of old liens, obtaining probate or heirship documents, coordinating the survey and clearing any issues it raises. Meanwhile the lender is underwriting the loan, and we are exchanging figures so the closing disclosure matches our settlement statement.

In the final week, we prepare the deed and the rest of the closing package, balance the statement to the penny, and schedule signing. Buyers and sellers often sign separately, and either can sign remotely or by mobile notary when arranged in advance. After signing, the lender reviews the executed documents and releases funds, we disburse every payment on the statement, record the deed and the lender's lien with the county, and issue the title policies. That moment of funding and recording is when the house actually changes hands.

• Open the file and receipt earnest money
• Examine the records and issue the title commitment
• Clear the requirements: payoffs, releases, estate or divorce documents, survey matters
• Balance figures with the lender and prepare the closing documents
• Sign, fund, disburse, record and issue the title insurance policies

Where the money on your closing statement comes from

In Texas, title insurance premium rates are set by the state, so the premium for a given sales price is the same no matter which title company issues the policy. What varies between companies and between files is the rest of the statement: escrow and closing fees, recording fees, courier and document charges, the survey if one is needed, tax prorations, HOA transfer fees and payoffs. Which party pays which item is a matter of negotiation in the contract, and the contract you signed already decides most of it.

Rather than quoting figures here, I would point you to the closing cost estimate your escrow officer can prepare from your actual contract. Capital Title also publishes calculators and closing-time information for Texas transactions that agents and buyers use to set expectations before the numbers are final. If a figure on your statement surprises you, ask; every line should trace back to the contract, the lender or a recorded document.

Choosing a title company when the contract gives you the choice

In Texas the contract specifies which party selects the title company, and it is a negotiable term. If the choice is yours, the premium will not be the deciding factor, so decide on service. Ask who your escrow officer will be and how to reach them directly. Ask how they handle estates, divorces and other curative work, because that is where files stall. Ask whether they close commercial transactions if you have one coming, and whether they offer remote or mobile signings if someone cannot attend.

Scale matters in a quiet way. A statewide company with offices across Texas and a national commercial group can handle a seller in Houston, a buyer in Dallas and a 1031 exchange in the same file without handing it off. A local office that knows the Park Cities and Preston Hollow still matters when a neighbor's fence or a 1950s easement comes up on a survey.

• A named escrow officer you can call directly
• Experience clearing estate, divorce and old-lien issues
• Both residential and commercial capability if your deals vary
• Remote and mobile signing options
• Clear written wire-fraud procedures

The habits that cause last-minute delays

Sellers forget a second lien, often a home equity line that has a zero balance but is still open and recorded. Buyers change jobs or make a large purchase during underwriting. Someone on the deed travels the week of closing without arranging to sign. The seller's spouse, who was never on the deed but has community property rights because Texas is a community property state, is not available to sign the documents the title company requires. An old survey turns out to show a shed on an easement and no one looked at it until the lender asked.

The common thread is silence. Every one of these is manageable with a week's notice and a crisis with a day's notice. I would rather hear about a problem you think is minor than discover it in the records.

What happens once you name Capital Title in your contract

Your agent or lender sends us the executed contract and the earnest money. You receive an introduction from your escrow officer at our Dallas office with the file number and direct contact details, followed by the title commitment once the examination is complete. From there we stay in touch about requirements, figures and the signing schedule, and your agent and lender are copied so everyone is working from the same information.

If you are a real estate agent, lender or investor who closes regularly, we can set up a standing relationship so each new file lands with the same contact. If you are a business owner buying or selling commercial property in Dallas-Fort Worth, our national commercial operations group handles larger and multi-site deals alongside the local office. Either way, the first step is the same: a contract, a conversation and a file that someone is personally responsible for.

Questions people ask me