How early to begin title search and closing procedures?

If your closing date is so far out, there is really no rush here.
You can start the mortgage application now, get a firm approval, and have the interest rate locked in at a later point.
With respect to lawyers, even if you retain a lawyer today, they won't likely start working on your file until a few weeks prior to the closing date
Title search is normally done 2 or 3 weeks before the closing date.

richyrich123 wrote: ↑ My question is: is there any rush for me to begin the closing procedures with a real estate lawyer, such as a title search? Would it make more sense to begin it closer to the closing date so if anything came up in between it would be found?

The real question is, when is the title search date (aka the requisition date) set in your agreement of purchase and sale. That is the deadline your real estate lawyer has to submit to the vendor's lawyer its list of items that it needs for closing, including if there are any title problems that have to be rectified. This date is different in each deal.

With that said, a "good" lawyer will get the title search done as soon as possible to identify any title related issues because if there is in fact any title related issues they can sometimes take some time fix depending on the complexity of the matter. They will then "update" the title search just before submitting their letter to the other lawyer to make sure no changes have occurred. The "discount" guys may not do it this way and yes you may save a few bucks with them but for what is essentially the most important purchase you will ever make its probably worth spending a few extra bucks. So there is no harm getting a lawyer sooner rather than later if they are in fact going to do the title search now vs. waiting until the last minute. But to each their own.