Closing on a Co-op--questions

I've done this. It's generally fine to give POA to the attorney. You're not giving them control over everything in your life -- only the ability to represent you for specific purposes at a single closing. Any additional cost depends on the working agreement you have with the lawyer -- are you paying by the hour or do you have a fixed price agreement for a defined set of work? Any additional fee would likely be minimal. Checks and keys are exchanged at closing, and it may be possible to have the money wired to the seller's account directly, rather than receiving a physical check. Otherwise, the attorney would mail the check (certified, of course).

Attorney can also deposit the check into your bank account. POA is very safe and commonly done for out of state sellers.

There was a famous lawsuit where a divorced couple owned a Coop jointly but the husband sold it and had his girlfriend show up at the closing impersonating his wife and pocketed all the money. The ex-wife sued and I believe won a judgement against the closing agent. I'm also pretty sure this is what prompted collecting photo ID of everyone at closings. I also think they don't merely accept POA but have added extra security measures (I think they have to get the the person on the phone during the closing to acknowledge or something... My memory is fuzzy on exactly what).

The attorneys I work with typically charge a couple hundred bucks for a limited POA. If you don't want to do that, you can set up a way to get the "wet" signatures that the parties would need at closing, and do the rest virtually.

The biggest challenge with virtual closings, IMHO, is that the buyer is wiring funds into the attorney escrow account and runs into daily wire limits. Plan ahead accordingly.

ali r.
{upstairs realty}

I had no issue with daily wire limits because the funds were going into an account of a title company. The bank actually knew the account, which surprised me (positively).

Ask for the title closer to send you the prepared docs 2 days in advance by FedEx. Sign them, have them notarized, and send them back. If not, do a remote online notary (RON).

There's no need for in-person closings anymore, and if someone tells you otherwise, fire them and go with someone whose business isn't stuck in the 1980s.