Investor's Loan Guide by Graham W. Parham

If you are living abroad and
trying to conduct a real estate
transaction, a POA is essential. All
POA’s that are used for buying or
selling real estate in the United States
must be notarized by a US notary. The
only way that these documents can
be notarized for a real estate
transaction for people living out of the
country is to have the documents
notarized at the US Consulate in the
perspective country. All lenders will require signatures from the borrower on all
the initial loan disclosures. Fortunately, most of the documents do not
necessarily have to be wet signatures, but still the borrower’s original
signatures. A power of attorney cannot be used for these documents, but only
for the final closing documents.
Warning
A POA could get you in trouble if it were used inappropriately. When your
representative signs on your behalf, the POA binds you to whatever they sign.
You could be responsible or legally liable for transactions, mistakes or even
negligence that you were not even aware of. For that reason, you must
choose carefully a person you trust to act with your POA.
Types of POA’s
A power of attorney is essentially a contractual document, which means
you can control the full extent of the powers given to your attorney in fact.
Some POA’s are general and leave all matters to the discretion of the attorney
in fact. However, most POAs expressly limit the powers of the attorney in fact.
A narrower POA is safer because it restricts what the attorney, in fact, can bind
you to. Most POA’s that involve real estate typically will want to be specific in
nature. General POAs do not necessarily work because it is not address
specific. In my years of working with title companies and attorneys, they
generally want to see the address and property description on the POA.
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