Nolo Press sells and publishes self-help legal books and software.  They have free articles on many topics including Powers of Attorney, Wills, and legal contracts for business and personal purposes.
http://www.Nolo.com


WA notaries are not permitted to provide or sell you US legal forms.  But we are permitted to tell you where to find them. 

Below are links to frequently used forms - both free and low cost.

Free US legal forms and instructions - FindLaw
You will need to know the specific name of a form, such as Will or Power of Attorney.  Few real estate forms are provided.
http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/#dirsearch2

Low cost legal forms - US Legal Forms
This site is superior to most others because they provide state-specific forms.
They also support Find Law, the service I recommend (above) which offers many legal forms at no cost.
www.usLegalForms.com/FindLaw/


If you need help finding the specific name of a non-real estate form, you are welcome to telephone me.  I cannot advise you on which specific forms to use but I am permitted to provide you with some legal words to try when you search the internet for information. 

Please telephone rather than sending me an email.  I must ask you for a few details in order to be helpful. 
(604) 484-3681

For real estate forms, please get advice from your US title company, a US attorney, or your own attorney on which specific form works best for you.  I cannot help you with real estate legal vocabulary.

If you need an attorney in California, I managed a law firm for an excellent real estate and business law attorney.  He owns a small firm so you won't be charged the high prices demanded by the large firms. 
Bruce Methven
(510) 649-4019
www.MethvenLaw.com
You are welcome to mention my name. 
I do not get a fee for referrals.


Internal Revenue Service forms
These are not legal forms but lots of people ask me how to find them so they are included on this page.


8840 form and instructions for people needing to declare how many days each year they live in the US - the presence test for closer connection. 
The link takes you to the 2008 form.  The 2009 forms will be published next year.
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8840.pdf


WA forms - not related to real estate
I can provide witnesses when necessary for a small fee.  Only two witnesses will be needed though some people want three.  We will meet in a location other than my office.  I will provide you with the address and directions.  The venue is in the middle of Point Roberts.

Wills
General WA information and instructions
www.washington-wills.com/
Will form: scroll down to the "Instructions & Forms" section.  Click on "Simple Will form."
http://www.washington-wills.com/  

Power of Attorney
(for general and financial matters)
Form is on page 11. 
Instructions precede the form.
www.lawhelp.org/documents/1543119900EN.pdf?stateabbrev=/WA/

The above PoA form is rarely  considered acceptable for some real estate transactions including sales and purchases.  Sales and purchases often require a very specifically worded Power of Attorney.  Consult a title company or attorney for information.

Combination Power of Attorney for Health Care and Advanced Health Care Directive
www.candcofwa.org/docs/CandC_Advance_Directive.pdf

Power of Attorney for Health Care
I do not have a link for a free WA form for a Power of Attorney for Health Care.
The best place in Whatcom County to buy one is at Grigg's Stationers in downtown Bellingham.  They have WA-compliant forms - Office Depot, Office Max, and FedEx do not.  Griggs charges only a few dollars each for legal forms. 

Advanced Health Care Directive 
aka  Living Will
Included in this form are your instructions related to life support and other End of Life issues.  I do not have a link for a free WA form for an Advanced Health Care Directive.  Buy one at Grigg's Stationers in downtown Bellingham for a few dollars.


US Real Estate Resources and Forms
If you need a Deed or other real estate legal form, there are several types and I am not licensed to advise you on which form is specific to your situation. 

Please get advice from your US title company, an attorney conversant with the laws of the specific state where your real estate is located, or your own attorney.

WA real estate excise tax (sales tax)
The real estate excise tax rate is much lower than the sales tax when you pay for goods in WA, such as clothing.
Click on this link then look for the name of the form on the webpage.  Click on the name.
http://dor.wa.gov/content/taxes/other/tax_realestate.aspx

WA-specific Quit Claim Deed
Free form and instructions from a state agency in Washington. 
May or may not work in other states.
http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/form/courtforms/state/wa/wa000395.pdf

Whatcom County, WA, phone numbers and other contact information to help you with property tax, recording of name changes on Deeds, and more.
www.co.whatcom.wa.us/treasurer/contact.jsp

Whatcom County's information page on what is needed to sell/transfer real estate in Whatcom County:
www.co.whatcom.wa.us/treasurer/faqs/faq_transfers.jsp

Mobile homes in WA
If a mobile home or trailer is involved in a sale or transfer, contact the Department of Licensing website for title and tax information and forms:
www.dol.wa.gov/ 


Additional WA-compliant forms
If you can't find the WA form you need above or by using a Google search, telephone Grigg's Office Supplies in Bellingham.  They charge only a few dollars for each form.

(604) 484-3681


Laura Vestanen, US Notary Public


10,000+ notarizations
over 14 years.
10 years as the firm manager of a
law practice in California

US BUYING, SELLING, AND
TRANSFERRING US REAL ESTATE

This section includes resources and links that apply to land, house, condominiums, timeshares, construction loans, and commercial property.  At the bottom of this page is consumer information specific to US home loans.

Notaries in the US are not permitted to draw up real estate documents.  In Washington, we are not allowed to provide you with blank forms.  But we are allowed to tell you where to download or purchase blank forms.

Please get advice from your US title company or an attorney conversant with the laws of the specific state in which your real estate is located.

If you need an attorney in California, I managed a law firm for an excellent real estate and business law attorney.  The firm is fairly small so you won't be charged the high prices demanded by the large firms. 
Bruce Methven
(510) 649-4019
www.MethvenLaw.com
You are welcome to mention my name.  I
 do not get a fee for referrals.


Final documents for United States real estate transactions must be signed and notarized while the signers and the notary are physically located in the US.

If you do not sign final documents in the presence of a US notary while physically in the US, the only alternative is to sign in the presence of a Canadian notary who has a contractual relationship with the US Consulate.  You get your documents notarized by a BC notary then you must then take them to the US Consulate in downtown Vancouver for certification. 

Notary fee estimate
Washington notary fees are lower than Canadian fees and depend on type of document and type of notarial wording used.  I will ask you questions when you call for an appointment to provide with the most accurate estimate possible without being able to see the documents in person.   

I have notarized hundreds of US real estate packages for people living in Canada.  US documents are quite different from those used in Canada. Your calls or emails for more information are very welcome.
 

Real estate forms
You can find many real estate forms at this website:
http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/#dirsearch2
This site has many business contracts including real estate sales and purchases
http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/#dirsearch1
Be certain to chose the proper state.


You will need to know the specific name of a form, such as Will or Power of Attorney.  Few real estate forms are provided.
http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/#dirsearch2

Low cost legal forms - US Legal Forms
This site is superior to most others because they provide state-specific forms.
They also support Find Law, the service I recommend (above) which offers many legal forms at no cost.
http://www.usLegalForms.com/FindLaw/


WA real estate excise tax (sales tax)
The real estate excise tax rate is much lower than the sales tax when you pay for goods in WA, such as clothing.
Click on this link then look for the name of the form on the webpage.  Click on the name.
http://dor.wa.gov/content/taxes/other/tax_realestate.aspx

WA-specific Quit Claim Deed
Free form and instructions from a state agency in Washington. 
This form may or may not work in other states.
http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/form/courtforms/state/wa/wa000395.pdf

Whatcom County, WA, phone numbers and other contact information to help you with property tax, recording of name changes on Deeds, and more.
http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/treasurer/contact.jsp

Whatcom County's information page on what is needed to sell/transfer real estate in Whatcom County:
http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/treasurer/faqs/faq_transfers.jsp

Mobile homes in WA
If a mobile home or trailer is involved in the sale/transfer, contact the Department of Licensing website for title and tax information and forms:
http://www.dol.wa.gov/ 


The process for getting a US real estate home loan is very different from that in Canada.  This page has consumer information and resources to help you get a US real estate loan that is right for you. This information is specific to homes and loans in the state of Washington but will apply to most states.  The sole intent is to pass along consumer information to help you make choices. My statements are not advice - they are my personal opinions based on my experience only. Please do your own research and/or consult your accountant, portfolio advisor, or other professional regarding which strategies and decisions are best for you. 
 
Research before calling lenders
Rates and terms for loans and title/escrow services and products are very competitive, especially in this economy.  A few phone calls to competitors might save you thousands of dollars over the years.

Your real estate agent may recommend a specific lender and title/escrow company.  These companies may or may not provide optimum rates, terms, and prices for your situation.  While kickbacks for referrals are virtually never permitted in the US, they are very common. 

Independent mortgage brokers usually have superior access to a variety of rates and terms currently being offered by multiple lenders.  Banks usually offer a small number of options.  You may wish to interview several independent mortgage brokers by phone and ask them to fax or email me information about available options specific to my situation.

BankRate.com
provides general information about currently available rates and terms.  Note that the best rates are for single family primary residence loans for borrowers with excellent credit ratings.  Rates are higher for vacation homes and for people who are not US citizens.  Lenders must pay BankRate to be included so you might find lower rates from lenders not listed on their site.
http://www.BankRate.com 

Caveat emptor.
The generally-terrible ethics of the US loan industry is what caused the current US housing crisis.

Many people outside the US think borrowers in the States did not read the loan papers before they signed them.  But when a person of usual intelligence has been promised good terms and rates and then given a purposely unorganized loan package of 150 pages with lots of legal terminology, lied to when asked about specific passages, and pressured to sign the entire package in 20 minutes by the title or escrow company, it is easy to see how tens of thousands of homeowners in the States were tricked into signing papers that later resulted in foreclosure.  (I refused to notarize or further work with any packages from those lenders, of course.)
 
Length of loan
If you have access to Quicken, you can use its handy calculators to see what your loan payments will be when you vary the number of years of the loan. Go to Planning, Financial Calculators, Loan. Enter the same loan amount and interest rate but vary the number of years. You will see that the monthly payments for a 15 year loan are not double what you would pay for a 30 year loan.

Loans with interest-only payments
With these loans, your monthly payments only cover the interest for a set period of months. After the period is over, your monthly payments usually include principal plus interest.

Loans with negative amortization
With these loans, your monthly payments cover no principal and only a portion of the interest. These payment conditions are usually limited to a stated number of months or years. The amount of interest that is unpaid each month is added to the principal of the loan. There may or may not be a balloon payment at the end of the loan.  I have personally seen lenders try to get borrowers to sign these loans, hoping the they did not understand what they were signing. 

Example:
Mr. Apple has a loan requiring interest-only payments for the first 5 years. He pays $1,500 a month. At the end of 5 years, his payments rise to include both interest and principal. The principal has remained the same.
Mr. Orange has a negative amortization loan. If he were to make payments that covered the interest but no principal, he would pay $1,500 a month. But only pays $500 a month for the first 4 years according to his loan's terms. That means $1,000 is added to his loan principal every month. At the end of 4 years, his loan principal would have increased by $48,000 (plus a little more due to compounding).

Prepayment Penalities
Prepayment penalties are clauses that state if you pay off the loan (via a refi or sale of house) within a specific number of months, you will have to pay the lender a fine. I have seen fines as low as $300 and as high as $24,000. If a prepayment penalty (PPP) is part of your loan, it must be disclosed on the Truth In Lending statement. On most of the TILs I have seen, the prepayment penalty information is in the bottom third of the page. The TIL will only show whether or not there is a penalty. You must look elsewhere in the loan package to the see the specific terms of the PPP. It can be anywhere. It can be a separate document. It can be the text within another document. Lots of people dismiss the importance of a 2- or 3-year PPP because they have no intention of selling their house for many years. But medical emergencies or job loss might mean that the owners need to access their home's equity via a refinance.

Lender fees
Many lenders break down their fee into many categories including origination fee, administration fee, rate buy-down fee, broker fee, processing fee, and more. When you speak with a lender about fees, you may wish to ask for their total fee including all subcategories. The fees will be listed on the HUD aka Settlement Statement aka Closing Costs statement.  In this bad economy, many of the fees may be negotiated to be lowered or eliminated.

Escrow accounts for property tax
and insurance
Many people like to send monthly payments to the lender that includes the loan payment plus extra to cover the property and tax bills when they are due. Some lenders require this to get a home loan from them.  When you take out a loan, the lender likes to seed an escrow (or cushion) account upfront so that if your rates rise or the post office delays delivery of your monthly payment, there is still enough money in the cushion account to make your tax or insurance payment on time.  2-3 months worth of tax and insurance contributions is a common amount used to seed the new escrow account.

Since this seed amount is included in your loan, you are borrowing and paying interest on the money that sits in the escrow/cushion account while the lender is earning interest on the money sitting in your cushion/escrow account.


Title insurance
The title insurance fee listed on your Settlement Statement covers the lender not you.  Ask if you have questions.

Power of Attorney used for
signing of final documents
Lenders and escrow/title companies prefer all persons holding title on the property sign the final package before a notary.  If that does not work for your situation (say your partner is out of the country the week you close), one borrower may sign using Power of Attorney.  Virtually all lenders require an attorney at the escrow/title company to create a Power of Attorney to be used only once specifically for this purpose.  (A general Power of Attorney rarely suffices.)  Some states require this Power of Attorney to be recorded before final documents are drawn and signed.

Another way Power of Attorney is used -
Some lenders want you to sign a Power of Attorney in front of a notary to allow their employee or agent to sign all your final closing papers for you. You do not sign the final loan papers.  The lender and title/escrow companies are required to send you a copy of the final package signed but audits have revealed the copy package has important omissions.
 

I like to view these documents first:


*Prepayment Penalty clause
If your loan has a PPP, the wording may appear in a separate document or simply inserted into another document. Some PPP clauses do not state the amount of the fine or how it would be calculated.   I have seen PPPs for as low as $400 and as high as $24,000 on modest homes in NW Washington.

Right to Cancel aka RTC
Some home loans qualify for a multiple-day waiting period. Some home loans do not. If not, your loan papers are final as soon as you sign them. If you are given a RTC form, you have a few days to cancel the loan if you wish. Ask the person providing the RTC to answer any questions you have about it.


I have spoken with many borrowers who gave their loan officer specific requirements to be met, such as no Prepayment Penalty clause, but find errors in the final packages.

Sometimes the loan officers submitted the papers exactly as the borrowers wished. But the officers' supervisors added lender-favorable stipulations without telling the officer communicating with the borrowers.

So the loan officer you have been speaking with may or may not be person who changed the terms/costs of the loan.

Changed terms/costs is one reason why you may wish to see your final loan documents the day before your closing/signing appointment.


Please note - I no longer serve these areas in Whatcom County, Washington: Bellingham, Ferndale, Blaine, Custer, Lynden, and Sumas