Not planning on attending our closing. Don’t expect to give any tips! But I’ll let you know,
Are the tips given in cash? If not then are they considered income? Or a gift?
Do you sign anything when you give it to them.
This is one of the crazier things I have heard.
This thread is the first I ever heard of any tipping in real estate. We did both closings for FL and WI from the other state- online signatures and mailed copies of papers. It was great to not have to show, we weren’t moving immediately upon closing and finally gat an offer on our WI home after we moved. The real estate companies provided any legalese. We understood terms when we listed/made our offer and were comfortable with the process.
Please remind me what state(s) have tipping at the RE closings.
Title officers, agents or title ‘closers’ should not be wasting their time traveling to closings, which can sometimes take hours. In fact, going to a ‘closing’ table is old fashioned and a waste of the Seller and Buyer’s money, because obviously all those people sitting at the table have to charge money for their time. The only thing that needs a legal “wet” signature these days are Buyer signing loan docs and Seller signing legal Grant Deed and other docs getting recorded. These can be signed privately at the escrow or lawyer office.
You don’t see the banks sending reps to sit at tables and they have to sign some of the most important documents involved such as Reconveyance of Seller’s loan being paid off, which has to be recorded against property. For some reason the banks are allowed about 30 days to record the release and they do it from some ivory tower somewhere.
In NY besides the buyers and the sellers attorney, the title company rep and the banks’ attorney are at the closing.
What you do in CA is irrelevant to what is required in other states.
Just what is the tip for?
Any escrow or mortgage folks I know consider themselves professionals and are paid by their employers.
We had 3 properties close and didn’t attend any of the closing and didn’t tip anyone in Honolulu.
We have had a title person come to house in the evening on two occasions and it never occurred
to us to offer anything but coffee.
I still want to know the particulars–such as do they credit cards? is it cash? Do you sign anything?
I agree each to each’s own but just curious.
@VeryHappy , so far, as far as I can tell, we have established that this tipping occurs in Westchester County, NY. IIRC, @EmilyBee lives somewhat in the vicinity of Albany, and she says they don’t do it there. The rest of us live in various NE states–CT, ME, et al–and they don’t do it there, either.
It would be interesting to hear form other parts of NY: LI, Manhattan, et al.
I don’t believe there was tipping when I went with my mother(seller) to the house closing in NYC in 2009.
Ok a simple search answered my questions. The main thing is that if you do not tip you just might not get your
closing papers done in a reasonable amount of time.
I still do not know how they account for the extra above salary that they make in a years worth of tipping.
‘Not in a reasonable amount of time’ sounds like lousy business strategy. Are agents going to keep recommending them? Or you think they really tell clients to hand them an envelope? Sorry, but I wouldn’t play.
Sounds like extortion to me! Or something that is a custom in a BRIC type of a country.
Wait. There is a better definition - it is a bribe. A tip is a token of appreciation paid for a well-done service. A bribe is exactly that: if it is not paid, there are “issues.” Disgusting.
A racket.
How is the title agent going to know whether you are going to tip? They arrived at the table with the papers…already done. If you don’t tip at the table, do the papers suddenly disappear or there is an error that doesn’t get caught until the last minute?
or do not get filed as suppose to be filed–just guessing
We wrote a check to the title company - so there is a record of the payment.
I recall being outraged decades ago when friends of mine had to give the super in their building $50 to get him to fix something. After all, fixing things was his JOB. I could have seen giving him a tip, but in the 80s $50 was not a tip, (I’m not talking fancy, doorman buildings on the UES.)
“Mandatory tipping” is not tipping. It’s a fee
Tipping in my opinion is, always has been and always will be voluntary.