Escow accounts??

Never, ever give the money to the seller!!! But having said that, I've never handled a private party transaction that large so I don't know the best way to handle it. I do know there have been discussions of using escrow companies on here. If you are a cash buyer, you may not need to add the expense of an escrow company, and you could personally work with the sellers lender and wire transfer money directly to them. But if you give the money to the seller, and for whatever reason they don't pay off the loan, you'll be on the losing end of that one as the bank's interest will come first. And if you call the police, they are going to tell you it's a civil problem and you have to sue the seller for the money back.

You can make one check out to the seller's bank and wait for the title. As soon as the seller gets the title you give them the rest of the money in exchange for the title. Make sure you have a purchase and sale agreement and a release of interest signed and notarized. That way if something goes wrong you have recourse. I don't like escrow company's in general and in reality they will only do exactly what I described.

Thank you, that exactly my concern as well.

You would get the lenders name and contact info. You would pay your money to the lender., NOT TO THE SELLER. The lender will then give you a bill of sale and the title.

Deal with the bank directly. The title should be in their name. They can transfer title to you and they pay the difference back the seller.

Florida uses electronic titles. That means that you cannot get the title until the lien holder(the bank) releases the title through the DMV, once the loan is paid off. There is NO paper title that the bank can give you.
Once the title is released, which can take a day or a week, if it is an out of town bank, then only THE SELLER can pay for and get the paper title from the DMV. Once the seller has the title, he can then sign it over to you and then you can register it in your name. You can then pay extra and get a paper title in your name if there is NOT a lien holder.
This can be done in any Florida DMV office once the lien holder electronically releases the title to the seller.

I've done it multiple times.
Meet at the bank.
Seller's bank if there is a loan payoff.
Buyers bank if no current loan.

Deal in cash!!!

dan-nickie wrote:
I've done it multiple times.
Meet at the bank.
Seller's bank if there is a loan payoff.
Buyers bank if no current loan.

Exactly have the bank manager handle all paperwork and moneys. Make sure you are prepared to do a wire transfer to the sellers bank or you have deposited enough money in an account you set up at the sellers bank. Account should be set up far enough in advance for your funds to be free of hold at the new account. You should be able to walk out of the bank with everything you need for the DMV

What other people have experienced in other states is of no bearing to what you will run in to in Florida. As I said, by Florida statutes, all banks or finance companies use electronic titles for ALL transactions that have a lien holder. Electronic titles
You can go to the sellers bank and pay off the loan, but you CANNOT walk out with any paper title or anything else that you can take to the DMV. The title will be released at the DMV by the company that I listed above, which does not happen immediately, especially if there is any kind of delay in processing your funds that were used to pay off the loan.
Once the electronic title company releases the lien to the Florida DMV, you and the seller can walk into any Florida DMV office and the SELLER can BUY, for about $20, a paper title. He can then sign over that paper title to you and you can register the vehicle in your name, after you pay the necessary sales tax and title fees. If you want to walk out with a paper title in your name, the DMV will print you one for $20.
Prior to going through these steps, you can write up a sales agreement between you and the seller and have it notarized but unless his bank is going to finance it for you, they do not care what kind of agreement you have with the seller. That is out of their hands. All they want is for the loan to be paid off.