Woolworth Center

This afternoon was the long-awaited closing on our midtown condo purchase, which took place at our attorney's office in the Woolworth Center. The experience of purchasing real estate in New York has made similar transactions in Seattle and elsewhere seem like they have all the formality and structure of buying a set of hubcaps at a roadside flea market.

The experience we are used to is that the closing is a non-event. Usually we would go to the closing ourselves and meet with a bank representative whose only responsibility is to make sure that we sign all the documents in the right places.

Not so here. At this closing, all parties were actually present in the same room, including attorney and broker for both buyer and seller, as well as the bank representatives. As is apparently the custom, we all sat around a large table in a configuration that had us and our attorney on one side, the seller and their attorney (our "adversaries") on the opposite, and the neutral bank and real estate transfer representatives on either end. Makes sense for an important witness deposition in a product liability case, but it's the first time we have experienced it when purchasing a home.

Even more significant was the fact that they all seemed actually to be working out the final details of the agreement and monetary transfers, as opposed to witnessing a mere formality. Of course there was the usual marathon signing of documents, but at the same time that was going on there was simultaneous negotiation of important final terms and resolution of loose ends. I definitely had a stronger feeling than ever before that everyone was earning their respective commissions and fees.

Certainly the fact that the process here relies heavily on attorneys rather than solely on real estate brokers as is mostly the case elsewhere seems to make a difference. The lawyers add a dose of gravity and attention to detail combined with a deliberate approach that must be related to the fact that they don't receive a percentage-based commission (sorry, real estate brokers, you know it's true) that change the character of the whole operation.

In any case, after a long afternoon of alternating furious activity and waiting for reports of wire transfers, we were at last successful in getting the keys to our new place.