How to Make Your Closing Day a Success

Buying a Home 101 series – Week 12

This step-by-step series will take you through the entire home-buying process — from finding a buyer’s broker to closing day, and all the details in between. Every buyer will find this information-packed series easy to follow and understand.

This series ends with today’s article but stay tuned next week for a bonus article on maintaining your new home!

You are almost a homeowner! But before you can celebrate, you’ve got to gear up for a successful closing day. And that means no surprises, no delays, and no leaving without the keys to your new home.

There is a lot to do on the days leading up to your closing day. You’ll be better prepared and on top of everything if you know what to expect. Some of these tasks were covered in last week’s article, Almost There…Pre-Closing Details for Buyers.

Today’s article will touch on some of those tasks again but will also cover more of what happens during closing day. That way you stay calm and know what to expect!

Here’s a handy breakdown of what you need to do at each stage of the process:

Pre-Closing Tasks to Complete:

Get homeowner’s insurance. Your lender requires that you have homeowner’s insurance. So pick your carrier and policy at least 1-2 weeks before closing to insure your loan is approved. Let them know to start coverage the day of the closing, even if you are moving in later.

Don’t mess up your credit (loan!). Do not do anything that could change your financial circumstances! The lender will be doing a final check on everything a few days before closing. DON’T buy furniture for your new home. DON’T open a new credit card account at the furniture store. DON’T buy a new car for the new commute. DON’T charge too much on your current credit cards. And DON’T accept a great new job just before closing. Any one of the things could get your loan rejected at the last minute. So, hold off on any shopping sprees for your new home until AFTER closing.

Connect your utilities. Make sure service starts in your name the day of closing, even if you are moving in after closing.  The seller will terminate service the day of closing since they will no longer be the owner of the home.  To avoid any reconnection fees, make sure you set up an account within 3 days of closing.

Give yourself enough time to move funds around.  Please be aware that banks typically put at least a 3 day hold on large transfers.  If you’d prefer to wire your funds directly to the title company instead of bringing a certified check, get the instructions from escrow at least 4 days before closing. They will never email wire instructions. Only thieves and Nigerian princes email wire instructions.

Your Final Walk-Through You will be allowed to do a final walk-through of your home the week before closing. The closer to closing day the better so you can see the house in as close a condition as it will be on closing day. It should take about 30 minutes.

This is your opportunity to see if any damage has been done to the property and if any agreed upon repair work has been completed. Carefully go through the home this one more time to see if anything is amiss since you have the opportunity to bring it up at your closing (not afterward!). 

You are not doing another inspection, but just making sure that any repairs that were agreed upon have been done and ensuring the home is still in the same condition as when you wrote the contract. 

Final Closing Disclosure

Review the Final Closing Disclosure and settlement statement. This form lists all final terms of the loan you’ve selected, final closing costs, and the details of who pays and who receives money at closing. Your lender must send you a Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you are allowed to sign.

Signing

Signing occurs at least 2-3 days before closing. You will be signing a lot of documents that day so make sure you understand and know what you are signing. Ask questions and confirm amounts if necessary.

What to Bring to Signing

• Bring your driver’s license or some form of government ID.
• The escrow company will calculate the amount of money you need to bring to the closing.  Bring a certified check or wire funds for this amount.  Also make sure you also bring your checkbook just in case any minor last-minute corrections need to be made. 

What to Expect on Closing Day

It’s closing day! Woohoo! This is the day where the sellers will legally transfer the property to you. However, it will feel sort of anticlimactic since you’ve already signed and turned in your money, but you will be a homeowner by the end of the day!

The escrow company acts as a third party overseeing the terms in the contract to ensure they are being carried out and the transfer of ownership occurs.  They don’t represent you or the seller, but as a middle-man This is to ensure that all parties involved (you, the seller, your broker, their broker) have complied with the terms of the transaction.  

The escrow company will handle the documents, money, and any other items from all parties and make sure that everybody gets paid where necessary. 

Steps on the day of closing

There are 4 steps that happen today:

1) Funds received – Escrow will let us know when the wire comes in from the lender and you, if not already received. Once all funds needed to close arrive, escrow will let us know.

2) Released to Record – Funds are received, and the title company and lender says all conditions are cleared. Your transaction goes into the queue at the county recorders office to be recorded/transferred.

3) Recorded/Closed! – The county has recorded all documents, and escrow has disbursed funds to all parties. The home is legally yours!! 

4) Keys and possession – We will meet up as planned and celebrate!

Congratulations … You bought your home!

You’re all set to move into your new home now that you’ve made it through closing day.  It’s time to celebrate and start unpacking.

Now that you’re a homeowner, you’ve got to take care of your new home. Next week’s bonus article, Maintaining and Loving Your New Home, is perfect for you. I hope you have enjoyed our Buying a Home 101 series and that it will help you become an informative and confident buyer.

If you’ve enjoyed this series, I’d love the opportunity to help you become a homeowner. 

Our first step together would be a 45 minutes meeting where we’d talk about your criteria and discuss the steps in the home buying process.

Even if you don’t think you are ready to buy for years, I’d love to meet you and help you put together a plan we can implement whenever you are ready.  My goal is to help you when you are ready, not pressure you to do something that isn’t right. 

So, pick a time that works for you and we can talk more about you specific situation and put together a list of things you can do between now and when you are ready to become a homeowner.  That way you’ll have all your ducks in a row when the time comes.