Can I sign everything electronically?
Almost everything. The application, term sheet, and most disclosures are e-signed from your phone or laptop. The exception is the closing package itself — the deed of trust or mortgage must be notarized with wet-ink signatures in most counties, which is where a mobile notary comes in.
The reason is recording law, not lender preference. County recorders index the security instrument in the public land records, and while remote online notarization (RON) is now authorized in most states, individual county recorders and title underwriters vary in what they accept. Where RON is accepted end to end, a fully electronic closing is possible; where it is not, the note and mortgage get ink.
In practice this costs you under an hour. Everything up to closing day happens on screens; on closing day, a mobile notary meets you with the printed package, you sign where the tabs are, and the documents overnight to the title company. No trips to a bank branch, no office visit, no travel.
If you will be out of state — or out of the country — on closing day, say so early. Notaries can meet you anywhere in the U.S., and embassies handle notarization abroad, but international signings add mailing days the schedule needs to absorb.
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