Understanding the Real Estate Closing Process

The closing day is the last day in getting your mortgage and becoming the owner of your newly purchased home. On this day, all the parties will sign the documents or papers officially sealing the deal, and finally the ownership of the property will be transferred to you. You have to pay a number of fees on this day. The opportunity for you is, you can make changes to the transaction until the last minute.

• Scheduling for closing: Once your got the final loan approval, you need to confirm the date and time of settlement with the lender and the seller. Generally, the real estate agents representing the seller and you will coordinate the closing process. If you are yourself scheduling the closing process, you need to remember some points.
• Allow sufficient time to complete all the required documents.
• Allow time for any required maintenance or repairs on the hose to be completed.
• Schedule the loan commitment expires and any rate lock agreement on your loan expires.
• Check the home once again a day before you are going to buy.

• Parties to attend: Usually, the closing agent conducts the settlement meeting. The people who need to attend varies based on the state, property location and property type. Basically the closing agent, you or your representative and the seller or the seller representative are involved in the deal. The other people may include, attorney, title company representative, seller's and yours real estate professionals, the builder's representative (if involved), notary and the lender.

• Documents: There are many documents have to be signed in the closing process. These vary based on the state where you are purchasing property and some other factors. The documents needed are the deed of trust riders, the title insurance policy, the mortgage note, the deed of trust (mortgage), truth in lending settlement, RESPA or HUD settlement, environmental disclosures, hazard insurance policy and the escrow statements.

• Escrow items and closing costs: You need to pay for the escrow items and the closing costs. There are many fees handled need to handle by the borrowers. The fees are associated with transferring property ownership and obtaining a mortgage. Transferring property ownership goes in two ways. These are either by rolling them into principal balance of the new loan or agreeing to pay in higher interest. Some buyers may need to pay these from their pockets.

The closing process can be held at the real estate attorney’s office or your lender's office, or the title company's office or other agreed location, it is dependent on the circumstances. Make sure that each document is explained clearly and you understand that. If there is any issue, do not sign until it gets settled and you are satisfied.