Making the Proper Preparations for Closing

Before you get to the actual day of your closing, there are numerous things that should be in place to assure that your transaction will not only close on that day, but that all of it will go off without a hitch. A few days in advance of the closing you should take the time and go over all of your closing statements and check for accuracy. You should check and double check each calculation to ensure that you have been given due credit for any deposits made, as well as any seller credits coming to you. Anything else that you and the seller have agreed upon should be verified as well. Browse through the escrow fees, lender and title, to verify they match what you were told when you agreed to them. Verify every math calculation in the statement of closing. Errors may be rare, but they do occur.



Review all Documents



A preliminary report should be reviewed extensively, to confirm the property’s legal description, as well as check for any liens or encumbrances that could have been discovered against the property. Make sure everything that you did not expressly agree to is immediately removed, or re-negotiated. Make sure that the escrow agent or title contains your accurate vesting. Trying to correct deed vesting at a later date can be a huge hassle and very time consuming. Deal with those types of issues when you close escrow.



Inspect the Property



By inspect, we mean "re" inspect. Besides reviewing and verifying all aspects of the paperwork, you also want to perform one more inspection of the property immediately before you head to closing, and ask yourself some questions. Is the home in the condition it is expected to be? If you agreed upon certain repairs being made prior to closing, have they been completed? This is of utmost importance to avoid an unexpected surprise when you are moving into your new home.



Check, Double-check, and then Triple-check



The most crucial step in everything is to be absolutely certain that every purchase contract condition has been met to your satisfaction. You should be certain that your closing agent has been given all the facts, information and direction that he needs. Before laying your signature onto any page of the closing documents, thoroughly check through and be sure everything is 100% accurate, from the fees being charged, property condition, as well as the interest rate.



Nick Muller

king-and-assoc.com