For Commercial Brokers
A closing partner who can handle the survey, the entity, the exchange, and the large escrow.
Commercial deals have more moving parts and more that can go wrong than a typical residential sale. Prime Title and Escrow is an independent, attorney-led closing partner for commercial brokers across Virginia and West Virginia. We read the survey, confirm who can sign, coordinate the exchange, and protect large escrow, so your deal closes clean and stays closed.
Written by Anthony I. Shin, Esq., Principal and real estate attorney at Prime Title and Escrow
Why commercial brokers work with us
Commercial title is a different animal, and it needs legal depth.
A commercial transaction is not just a bigger residential one. There is a survey to read, an entity whose authority has to be confirmed, easements and access rights that can make or break the use, a lender with its own requirements, sometimes an exchange on a deadline, and an escrow large enough to attract serious fraud. Hand that to a company set up for high-volume residential closings and the gaps show up at the worst time.
We built Prime so a commercial broker has a closing partner with real legal depth from the first day of the file. Two real estate attorneys review the work, the complications get handled rather than passed along, and you get straight answers on the issues that decide whether your deal closes. If you have a file you already know is complicated, run it by us early.
What we handle
The four things commercial deals turn on.
Surveys and easements
We read the ALTA survey, resolve easements and encroachments, and confirm the access and utility rights the use depends on.
Entity authority
We confirm that the LLC, corporation, partnership, or trust on the deal can actually sign, so the transfer is not challenged later.
1031 exchanges
We coordinate with your qualified intermediary and handle the closing mechanics so the exchange stays on its deadlines.
Large-dollar escrow
We hold and disburse large escrow under protections built for the size, and the targets, that come with it.
Commercial title
We read the whole picture, not just the vesting.
Commercial title is where a deal's real risks hide. An easement that runs through the building footprint, an access right that was never recorded, a mechanic's lien from a contractor who was never paid, a fixture filing that clouds the equipment, a lease and estoppel that do not match. We work through the survey and the record carefully, raise what we find while there is still time to deal with it, and tell you plainly what it means for the deal.
ALTA and NSPS survey review
Easements and encroachments
Access and utility rights
Mechanic's and materialmen's liens
UCC and fixture filings
Zoning and use questions
Leases, estoppels, and SNDAs
Environmental exceptions
Entity authority
Make sure the person signing can actually sign.
Most commercial sellers and buyers are entities, and an entity only transfers clean title if the person at the table has the authority to act for it. We review operating agreements, bylaws, partnership agreements, and trust documents, confirm good standing, and gather the resolutions or consents the deal needs, including for out-of-state and foreign entities. Getting this right is what keeps a closed deal from being challenged a year later by a member or partner who says no one ever asked them.
1031 exchanges
Keep the exchange on its deadlines.
A 1031 exchange lives and dies by its timeline, and the closing has to fit cleanly inside it. We coordinate with your client's qualified intermediary, handle the closing mechanics for forward and reverse exchanges, and make sure the paperwork and the funds move the way the exchange requires. We are not your client's tax advisor, and we work alongside their intermediary and accountant, but we make the closing side of the exchange one less thing to worry about.
Large-dollar escrow
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2024 Annual Report
Big wires are the biggest targets. We treat them that way.
The larger the escrow, the more attractive it is to the criminals who target closings. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported $16.6 billion in losses in 2024, with $2.77 billion of that from business email compromise, and commercial wires are exactly the size that draws the most determined attempts. We hold funds in protected escrow, verify every instruction by phone, handle multi-party disbursements carefully, and never send or change wire instructions by surprise email.
Verify every wire instruction with a person by phone.
Confirm receiving names with the bank, not just account numbers.
Treat any emailed change as fraud until verified.
Reconcile multi-party disbursements before funds move.
Across two states
Every commercial property type, in Virginia and West Virginia.
We close commercial transactions across Virginia and West Virginia, including the West Virginia Eastern Panhandle, from a single retail building to a multi-parcel acquisition with its own entity and survey questions. Send us the property types your business runs on.
Office
Retail
Industrial and warehouse
Multifamily
Land and development
Data centers
Medical office
SBA-financed
Sale-leaseback
We earn your next deal by how we handle this one, not by paying for it.
We pay no referral fees and run no affiliated business arrangements. We earn a place on your next commercial file with legal depth and a clean closing, not compensation. Your client always keeps the right to choose their settlement agent.
Real Estate Partnership Program
Run a deal by our closing team.
Tell us about your firm or your next commercial file and we will follow up. Use this form to run a complicated deal by us early, ask a closing attorney a question, or get set up as a closing partner for your commercial business.
Questions commercial brokers ask
Working with Prime on commercial files.
Do you handle ALTA surveys and commercial title issues?
Yes. We review the ALTA survey, work through easements, encroachments, and access rights, clear mechanic's liens, handle UCC and fixture filings, and review leases, estoppels, and zoning questions. Commercial title is where the real risks hide, so we read the whole record rather than just the vesting.
Can you confirm entity authority on commercial deals?
Yes. We review operating agreements, bylaws, partnership agreements, and trust documents, confirm good standing, and gather the resolutions or consents the deal needs, including for out-of-state and foreign entities. The goal is to make sure the person signing has authority, so the transfer is not challenged later.
Do you coordinate 1031 exchanges?
Yes. We coordinate with your client's qualified intermediary and handle the closing mechanics for forward and reverse exchanges so the exchange stays on its deadlines. We are not your client's tax advisor and we work alongside their intermediary and accountant, but we make the closing side of the exchange one less thing to worry about.
How do you protect large commercial escrow from fraud?
We hold funds in protected escrow, verify every wire instruction by phone, confirm receiving names with the bank, and reconcile multi-party disbursements before funds move. We never send or change wire instructions by surprise email. Large commercial wires draw the most determined fraud attempts, so we treat them with extra care.
What commercial property types do you close?
We close office, retail, industrial and warehouse, multifamily, land and development, data center, medical office, SBA-financed, and sale-leaseback transactions, among others. If you are not sure whether a particular deal fits, run it by us and we will tell you.
Do you cover both Virginia and West Virginia?
Yes. We close commercial transactions throughout Virginia and West Virginia, including the West Virginia Eastern Panhandle, so a client with property on both sides of the state line can keep one closing team.
Give your commercial deals a closing partner with the legal depth they require.
Tell us about your next file. We will read the survey, confirm the authority, coordinate the exchange, and protect the escrow, so your deal closes clean and stays closed.
Anthony I. Shin, Esq., Principal, Prime Title and Escrow
(703) 552-4155
Serving all of Virginia and West Virginia