Title company backed out of the same-day close 48 hours before settlement

The order you did it in is what got you. Most transactional funders keep a short list of closers they've already worked with, and if you'd picked the funder first, the funder would have handed you the title company. You went title company first and asked the receptionist a policy question.

Front desk saying yes means nothing. The person who decides is the underwriter for the title insurer, and the escrow officer is just relaying what they're allowed to do. I've had two closers in the same city give opposite answers on the same structure in the same month.

What the underwriter is usually worried about on a same-day chain is the gap. They're insuring your buyer's title based on you owning the property, and if the money for your purchase is actually your buyer's money, there's an argument you never really owned it. Some underwriters will insure that, some won't, and it varies by state and by insurer. That's why the workaround is funding leg one with money that isn't the end buyer's, even for six hours.

pike, was the request specifically for a dry close where nothing new comes to the table, or did you have some cash in and just not the full 112k?

2,500 hard on a 112k contract is a lot of exposure for a first deal. Why so much?

Did the seller actually understand the resale price, or just that you might resell? Those are different conversations and the second one gets people angry later.

We keep two closers we've actually closed a dual with and one attorney who'll do it in a pinch. Costs nothing to maintain the relationship and it's the only reason we've never had your week.

The diligence step you skipped is cheap and boring. Ask to speak to the escrow officer who'd handle your file, not reception, and get the answer by email so there's a record. I'd also ask what they need from the funder, because some want the funder's payoff instructions before they'll even open the file.

Genuine question, why double close at all on a 19k spread? That's not so wide that a buyer balks at seeing it. Was it a state thing or a privacy thing?

Went back and reread your post, you said the resale language was in the contract, so the seller wasn't the blocker here. Withdrawing my question. It was purely the insurer.

What's a dry close? I've now seen it three times in this room and I've been guessing from context.

What stands out to me is that a single phone call answered by the wrong person cost you 3,100. That's a very thin margin for error.

pike can you list the actual out of pocket? I count 2,500 earnest, 600 inspection and couriers. Did you pay anything to the funder or for a title search before it fell apart? I'm trying to build a real cost sheet for a first attempt and everyone quotes me the wins.

I'd argue the title company isn't the cause here. You had no funder and no backup closer, so the deal only worked if one specific stranger said yes to one specific structure. That's a single point of failure you built yourself. The fix isn't a better phone call, it's having two ways to fund leg one before you sign anything with a hard earnest deposit.