Transfer fee payment process

We just bought at the Carlsbad Seapointe Inn. There is a transfer fee involved. Is that always done by certified check to the closing agent rather than credit card? it's a real pain to get a certified check done and I'd like to avoid that if possible.

If you pay with a credit card, the title company has to pay the 2/3% merchant fee and maybe a foreign transaction fee. If you offer to pay the fee, they may agree to accept payment by credit card.

Most real estate closing and transfer companies where I work won't accept a certified check either. They want wire transfers they have learned the hard way that it's easy to dispute a credit card payment or stop payment on a certified check.

Wire transfers are understandable and not that inconvenient based on the relationship with your bank. Hope you enjoy Seapointe as much as we have over the years. Room selection has been an issue in the past but the new lottery procedure seems to be working except for unlucky people like me.

Harry

I don't think many real estate transactions utilize a credit card for payment. Timeshares seem to be an oddity. The closing agent needs to come out whole and having to pay the merchant fees would make them short. The only fee that perhaps could be paid by credit card and not paying the 2-3% fee would be their actual closing fee. Any money that they take in and hold in escrow has to balance out in the end with what they pay out.

I had a closing recently where they wanted a certified check. I told them I was sending a regular check and I didn't care if they waited an extra week. No issues.

Not taking a credit card is understandable. It's not just the fee. The ones that take them tack on the fee. It has more to do with a buyer having remorse or thinking the closing is taking too long and trying to back out of the deal by filing a dispute.

Like Dioxide described, I haven't seen a by the book closing company take a credit card. By the book as in one that sends a settlement statement after everything is finished. Not many associated with a mass seller actually does this but TCS in Orlando comes to mind.