Selling a House Because of a Relocation

A move splits one household across two addresses. The new one comes with a start date set by an employer, a landlord, or a school; the old one has to be sold, insured, and looked after in the meantime, from wherever you now live.

Signing from a distance is a matter for the title company and the state. Options can include a mobile notary who travels to you, documents sent by mail, a remote online signing, or a power of attorney, and each closing agent sets its own requirements.

A written timeline keeps the pieces in order: the date you must be in the new place, what the old house costs to carry until it is sold, and who can sign for you if you cannot attend.

What this involves

• Signing through someone else may need a written power of attorney that the title company accepts, and some states set specific formalities for it.
• Where an employer offers relocation benefits, the policy may set rules about how the old house is sold, so read it before signing anything.
• Unless a purchase agreement says otherwise, property taxes, insurance, and the mortgage payment stay with the owner until closing, wherever the owner lives.
• If the next home can only be bought once this one sells, the two deals have to be sequenced, and the lender on the new loan typically counts the mortgage on the old house.
• A move date comes from an employer or a landlord, and the closing date comes from the purchase agreement, so the two have to be reconciled: the gap is covered either by carrying two housing costs or by using temporary housing.
• Accounts tied to the old address, such as bank statements, tax notices, insurance, and utilities, still need to reach someone, and a house left without mail forwarding or a plan for utilities can be exposed to missed notices and frozen pipes.