Real Estate Closings

Commercial closings

Commercial closings carry document layers that residential transactions don’t. The closing typically involves a purchase agreement-driven set of obligations between buyer and seller, a parallel set of loan closing obligations between the buyer and its lender, an environmental and title cure track that needs to be resolved before closing, prorations and adjustments calculated against the closing date, and the final coordination of recording, funding, and title delivery.

Our commercial closing work includes:

• Acting as closing attorney for the buyer, the seller, or both where conflict permits and the parties consent
• Acting as escrow agent holding earnest money, closing funds, or post-closing escrows
• Coordinating the title cure work identified in the title opinion so the closing can occur on schedule
• Issuing the title opinion and any required loan opinion letter for the closing
• Handling the closing logistics: preparation of closing statements, calculation of prorations, coordination with title, recording, and disbursement of funds

Residential closings

Residential closings move faster and follow a more predictable pattern, but the work needs to be done correctly all the same. We handle residential closings as closing attorney and escrow agent, including:

• Title examination and opinion based on the abstract
• Iowa Title Guaranty certification for qualifying properties
• Coordination with the lender on closing documents, payoffs, and funding
• Preparation and review of closing statements including prorations, recording fees, and transfer taxes
• Recording at the county recorder through Iowa Land Records
• Disbursement of funds to seller, payoff to existing lender, and other authorized parties

Most residential closings are routine. The ones that aren’t routine, where title defects, financing complications, last-minute requirements from the lender, or post-closing escrows for repairs complicate things are where careful attorney handling matters most.

Iowa recording and Iowa land records

Iowa real estate recording is handled at the county recorder’s office for the county where the property is located. Most filings now move through the Iowa Land Records electronic system, which has streamlined recording considerably from the era of paper submissions and runner deliveries. The mechanics still require attention: recording sequences matter for priority, recording fees vary by document type and length, and any error in the recorded instrument typically requires a corrective recording rather than a simple amendment.