When a double close's funding costs eat a fifth of the spread

What exactly is a dry close, and why does the underwriter care where the money came from if the money is good? My understanding was the closer just holds funds and disburses. Also, is the owner's policy on the second leg full price or does the reissue thing apply when the first policy was written an hour earlier? That 2,300 seems low to me if it includes a fresh policy on 214,000.

The 4,840 is in the normal range for one day funding, and the second set of closing costs is the piece most people underestimate, because it turns on items that vary by state. Transfer tax applies to each deed in some states, is charged once in others, and does not exist at all in a few, so have your closer quote both legs in writing before you compare anything to an assignment. The reissue rate on the owner's policy for the B to C leg also varies by state and by underwriter, and where it applies it can take a few hundred off.

The assumption carrying your whole post is that the end buyer's money lands on schedule. Once you take title on the A to B leg you own a house with a funder payoff due, usually the same day. If the buyer's wire misses the cutoff, or their lender re-conditions the file at the last minute, you are the owner of record on a very short clock. Ask the funder in writing what the extension terms are and what the rate looks like on day two and day five.

On the closer refusing the simultaneous, that is generally the underwriter's rule about disbursing one party's funds into a different party's closing. It is a policy rather than a statute, so another closer in the same state may say yes.

Whether taking title changes your exposure under your state's licensing statute is a question for a real estate attorney licensed there, and it belongs before the structure decision, not after.

Run the net against the same buyer at the price you would actually get if the fee is visible. That is the real comparison.

Does transfer tax really get charged twice? That would be another 1,800 or so where I am. Also curious whether the funder wants to see your end buyer's proof of funds before they commit, or if they just look at your contract spread and say fine.

The 7,100 reads as a cost when it is really insurance on the 32,000. A buyer who has already asked twice what someone is into a deal for is a buyer who will come back for half the fee, and half of 32,000 is 16,000. Paying 7,100 to avoid a 16,000 haircut is a trade worth taking without much hesitation. The attorney call on Thursday matters more than the closer question. If taking title turns out to be the cleaner posture in that state, the funding cost stops being optional and stops being worth comparing to assignment at all.

Run four of these in a year and two things tend to bite. First, find the closer who does simultaneous closings before one is needed. They exist in most states and are usually the small independent shops, not the big franchise offices, because it comes down to what their underwriter allows. Keeping two on speed dial is worth it, even if one charges more and never asks questions. Second, wire cutoffs. A common failure mode has the end buyer's lender funding at 4:40pm on a Friday while the funder wants their money back the same day, which eats a weekend of extension because someone in another time zone went to lunch. Ask about day two pricing, but also ask the funder whether they'll wire on a Monday morning payoff without penalty if the B leg slips a business day. Some will, and it's a different conversation than an extension fee. @luis_carrera is right about the haircut math, for what it's worth. The buyer asking twice is the whole reason this deal is worth thinking through carefully.