THE NIGHT BEFORE THE CLOSING

Once upon a time, a broker was hours away from closing a sale.

The night before, he followed his usual routine and reminded the seller what to bring the next day.

IDs. Documents. And, most importantly for this transaction, the owner’s duplicate copy of the title.

Weeks earlier, the broker had already asked the seller to prepare everything. The title was there. The seller placed it inside an envelope together with the rest of the documents.

So when the broker called the night before closing, the seller sounded slightly irritated.

“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s ready.”

Fair enough.

The broker went to sleep thinking the deal was all lined up.

The following morning, just before leaving for the closing, the seller decided to check the envelope one last time.

The title wasn’t there.

He checked again.

Nothing.

A document that had been inside that envelope for weeks had somehow disappeared on the morning it was needed most.

And just like that, a transaction that took weeks to negotiate and prepare was suddenly in danger of not closing at all.

This is why brokers can sound repetitive before a closing.

“Please check the documents.”

“Please bring the originals.”

“Please check again.”

It’s because in real estate, “I’m sure it’s there” and “I just checked—it’s here” are two very different things.

Never assume the closing documents are complete just because they were complete a few weeks ago.

So what happened?

The closing was postponed. The buyer eventually found another property. The seller, convinced the title had been stolen, started accusing people. Then, weeks later, the title turned up.

It had been sitting in another folder the entire time.