We Answer the Same 10 Questions (LA 1505)
Transcript:
Steven Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Hello.
Steven Butala:
Welcome to the Land Academy Show. Entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala.
Jill DeWit:
And I'm Jill Dewit. Broadcasting from sunny Scottsdale, Arizona.
Steven Butala:
Today, Jill and I talk about how we seem to answer the same 10 questions over and over again.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, we'll talk about this.
Steven Butala:
I can't wait to record this episode-[crosstalk 00:00:24]
Jill DeWit:
I know.
Steven Butala:
... and that's the truth.
Jill DeWit:
You really are giving me the green light to talk about this? Yes, yes.[crosstalk 00:00:34] Give me the green light.
Steven Butala:
We are going to make sure we keep it humorous, even though Jill right before the show was said... She got a little heated.
Jill DeWit:
We're not going to name names. This will be good.
Steven Butala:
Before we get into it, let's take a question posted by one of our members on a LandInvestors.com online community. It's free, and if you're already a member, join us on Discord.
Jill DeWit:
Sandy wrote, "In Steven's state summary..." Remember this?
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
I created a dictionary.
Jill DeWit:
He did. It went state by state about how the deals get done in that state. "... He indicates whether closing is done by attorney or title company. How do I know if I can do a self-closing, or if I have to close with an attorney/title? Am I able to self-close anywhere? Are there laws against self-closings? And if so, is that at the state- or county-level? Thanks for any help you can give."
Steven Butala:
Thank you Sandy, this is a great question.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
And it's not one of the same 10 questions that we constantly get.
Jill DeWit:
[inaudible 00:01:35] Exactly.
Steven Butala:
Without exception, you can self-close in any state... That's the answer.
Jill DeWit:
Even New York?
Steven Butala:
Yep... There's huge misinformation about this out there. You can do it. I'm not saying that the recorder will allow you to record it. I'm not saying that if you asked title companies, they might say, "No, you have to get an attorney," and if you ask a lawyer, they might, because they've all been misinformed.
Jill DeWit:
Wow, that makes sense.
Steven Butala:
A long time ago. There was before... During homestead times, people would just walked in and do their own deeds. The recorder would help them. They didn't then-[crosstalk 00:02:20]
Jill DeWit:
That's what I was going to say.
Steven Butala:
... lawyers got involved. Because there were so many mistakes. Or landowners wanted to protect their interests, so they got lawyers. So eventually then title insurance came in, and Escrow and all that much, much, much later. So no, you can close.
Jill DeWit:
This country was founded on that, is what you're trying to say?
Steven Butala:
Right, that's right.
Jill DeWit:
That we can do that. It's like saying, "Oh, I can't sell you a car because I'm going to go to jail." You're not going to go to jail for selling a car on Craigslist. You don't have to have a dealer's license.That's kind of what you're saying.
Steven Butala:
No, it's interesting you bring cars up. Because there's a huge number of laws associated with how many cars you can sell each state by state, before you become a dealer. I think in Arizona, it's six a year. And then on your seventh you have to get your dealers license.
Jill DeWit:
Because you're making it a business now, [crosstalk 00:03:07].
Steven Butala:
Get this too, because Jill and I started a company called Car Academy, and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Got all the way down to just about ready to release it, and found out that there's some pretty serious federal laws against using DMV data for any type of marketing. And when you think about it, we all own cars. I've never gotten a note that says, "Hey, you owner,