Power of Attorney for a purchase without an address

[Alan Sue]

Some background, I'm an American living in Japan, and trying to do real estate in the US from abroad. That makes for all sorts of fun beyond just the time difference. It also means each notarized signature costs about 100USD, so a typical RE closing just for notarization alone can be about 700USD. Before I ask my question, I know that whatever answers come do not count as legal advice, and I should ask a lawyer, lender, title company, before anything is finalized.

I have use Limited/Special Power of Attorney before for some real estate purchases, and I am planning to sell some properties, then 1031 them into others. 

My question is, is it possible to have a PoA that does not have a specified address on it, but is still limited and does not give too much authority to the agent? I would love to have both PoA for selling and purchasing notarized at the same time, but due it to being a 1031 transaction I would not know the address necessarily. 

Thank you for any advice!

Alan

[Dave Foster]

@Alan Sue, strictly from the 1031 perspective we have no problem at all with a limited or general POA. This kind of thing isn't uncommon at all. If the escrow company is willing to accept it for transfer of title then we will for 1031 documentation.

You may want to simply select one title company and specify that they will be the escrow officer for all sales. If you're in a location where the seller selects escrow then that's easy. If not then it simply becomes a matter of contract negotiation. Then you can direct multiple closings with the one POA set up with that title co.

As an alternative to that you can set the parameters for a POA to include multiple addresses. It's up to the attorney crafting it to be as specific or general as you want.