THE HOME BUYING & SELLING PROCESS - CLOSING

Congratulations! You made it! You have reached closing day, the holy grail of home buying and selling. This complicated event can be very quick and efficient if everything in the process went well and you have a good closing agent. Your closing agent will probably be someone with your title/escrow company.

The meeting to close on your purchased home normally takes place at the title company’s offices. It can also take place at your agent’s office, your lender’s office, or a notary public’s offices. Some closing transactions are now even possible remotely and online.

It is common that the seller will meet separately with the closing agent to execute any documents required by them. Your closing may be attended by your agent, your attorney, your lender, or just you and the closing agent.

Closing is when you will be signing several documents and reaching settlement with the seller. It is the final step in the home buying and selling process. The following documents are among those that might be included in closing. You will sign or initial most pages in the entire package.

Example of closing documents:

• (Loan) Note
• Warranty Deed
• Deed of Trust (and any associated Riders)
• Closing Disclosure
• IRS Form 4506-T (Request for Transcript of Tax Return)
• Patriot Act Disclosure
• Loan First Payment Notification
• Notice of No Oral Agreements (Texas)
• Title insurance commitment
• Property insurance policy
• Any lender closing instructions

As you can see, there are a lot of documents to be reviewed and signed. Closing can take from 30 minutes to several hours depending on how organized your closing agent is and how much time you spend reviewing each document. Good closing agents will have all papers neatly organized and will explain each document as you sign or initialize them.

There are two transactions completed at closing. The real property sale transaction is the actual transfer of the property from the seller to you. The primary document for this transaction is the property deed. It is the document delivered by the seller that declares all rights being transferred to you.

The other transaction is the loan between you and your lender. The primary documents to close this transaction are the Note, Closing Disclosure, and Deed of Trust. There are several other documents that may be required by your lender.

Closing costs may include prorated amounts of taxes for the current year, interest on your loan, maintenance fees, assessments, dues and rents. These costs are based on the actual closing date which may not be known until a few days before. Your closing agent will inform you if you need to bring additional payment for closing if there is an adjustment due to proration.

The keys to the property will be handed over after closing unless there are some outstanding issues that need to be addressed. Examples of outstanding issues are complete funding and repairs not completed by the seller. Formal transfer of property possession takes place after the seller receives all payment according to the agreement.

Once all closing documents have been signed, final payment is made to the seller and you have received the keys to the property the process is complete. You are now the owner of your purchased home with all rights legally granted to you.