How To Close On Your Home - What You Should Know

HOW TO CLOSE ON YOUR HOME - WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW FLORIDA By: Elite Sales Group

ELITE SALES GROUP REAL ESTATE:: 305.554.1544 | info@ESGReal Estate.com | 2665 S. BayShore Dr. #601 Coconut Grove, FL 33133 | Experts In Elite Real Estate 

Schedule an appointment to walk through the property one last time. Before you finalize the purchase of your home, you should take one last look at the property. By the time you are ready to close, you have probably gone through the house a few times, and had a home inspection done. The purpose of this final walk through is not to try to find problems with the home (that should have been done prior to this), but rather to make sure the seller has held up his or her end of the bargain by making the repairs you have specified in the contract and left any appliances they agreed to leave.

To make the appointment, ask your Elite Sales Group real estate agent to set it up with the seller’s agent. If you notice anything unusual, your real estate agent should notify the seller’s agent immediately to get the issue resolved.

Ask any last minute questions. While you certainly can ask questions at your closing, if you have any lingering questions before the closing, you should ask them well in advance of the closing.

Contact your loan officer mortgage questions, your attorney or title company questions about the title, or your real estate agent any other questions you may have about the deal.

Remember that the closing is the finalization of the deal, where you will sign the documents and hand over the checks, so the details of the sale of the home should be finalized before the closing date.

You may have a concern that will take time to investigate, require the revision of documents, or take time to make a repair to the property. Any of those issues may mean that the closing cannot take place as scheduled, so make sure to have all your questions addressed well before the closing date.

Obtain homeowners insurance. As a condition of a mortgage, almost all lenders will require a home buyer to purchase homeowners insurance.

The homeowner’s insurance policy should list the buyers as insured, as well as the lender.

You can choose any insurance company that meets the requirements set forth by your lender, purchase the policy, and have the insurance company send you a proof of insurance document. You will need this document at the closing, so make sure you obtain insurance well in advance of the closing date.

Obtain title insurance. Some lenders require a home buyer to purchase title insurance in order to obtain a mortgage. A title insurance policy is a relatively simple type of insurance that protects the buyer and the lender in the event there are problems with the title to the home after the sale.

Usually, the buyer and lender will have separate policies that are financed by the buyer.

As with homeowners insurance, you will need proof of your insurance coverage at the closing, so make sure to obtain it well in advance of the closing date.

Transfer utilities accounts. Prior to the closing date the buyer should arrange to have the utilities accounts transferred into his or her name as of the closing date.

Contact the individual utility companies and making the necessary arrangements.

This step is often required for the closing to take place, but is also a good idea since it allows the home to be ready to move into on the closing date.

Finalize your loan. Arrange to meet with your lender before the closing date to ensure that all necessary paperwork is complete and your loan is finalized.

If your lender had any conditions for the approval of your mortgage, such as a completed sale of your previous home, you will need to have satisfied these conditions to your lender’s satisfaction—usually by providing documentation—by the time of the closing.

Ensure the closing cost funds are available. Since closing costs are calculated to the exact date of the closing, you will not know the final amount you will need to pay at closing until you have set your closing appointment date.

Your mortgage lender will have provided you with an estimate of closing costs to use as a guideline, although that amount can fluctuate. In general closing costs are about 3 to 5 percent of the total loan amount.

You should ensure that you have the required funds available in your account as of the closing date. Most banks will place a hold on checks deposited into an account before they are available, so make sure to complete any necessary deposits into your account before the closing date.

On the closing date, you will likely need cashiers checks for the payments that need to be made at closing. YourElite Sales Group real estate agent will let you know the exact amounts of the checks.

Any last minute and relatively small costs that may arise at the closing can usually be handled with a personal check.

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