How many signatures does it take to sell a home?

Yesterday, I was at a closing, and my client and I decided it would be funny to track exactly how many signatures were required to officially sell the property.  I always make jokes about closing saying “you sign your life away” or “you’ll practically get carpal tunnel in the process”. But, we were curious, exactly how many signatures would it take.

As my client continued to sign a variety of forms, many of which seemed to cover the same thing, I started tallying.   All in all she signed her name 24 times yesterday, and initialed 6 times. This was part of a 1031 exchange so I speculate she may have endured a little less pain had it not been.

This process got me thinking.  I wonder how many signatures and initials are required in total from the listing to the closing.  I looked back through my records and uncovered these stats:

• Texas Listing Agreement:  1 signature, 9 initials
• Information About Brokerage Services: 1 initial
• Other Forms (Lead Based Paint, Seller’s Disclosure, Wire Fraud Disclosure, General information and Notice to Buyers and Sellers): 3 signatures, 5 initials
• Contract:  1 signature, 7 initials
• Contract Amendment: 1 signature

All in all my client signed her name 29 times and her initials 28 times.  Keep in mind this was for one seller client. Also, this was a multiple offer situation and there was no countering on the contract.  All in all, these numbers were actually less than I thought, and, as my client pointed out, almost all signing before the closing was done electronically which makes it a lot easier than by hand.