The Closing
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If you have successfully negotiated the sale of a home you might be tempted to take a deep breath and be glad the process is over. Yes, a significant portion of the home selling process is complete but it is not entirely over yet. There are still several things that must be done in order to complete the sale of the house. Unfortunately, this step can be one of the most complex and daunting of all. Your realtor will help you through this and explain the process thoroughly. There is a lot to go over.
Once you have agreed on a price, a buyer must obtain financing for the home. If a buyer has a pre approved mortgage, this is ideal but if not, the seller has to wait to see if the buyer can actually get financing. If not, the process starts all over again and this can be incredibly frustrating. There are likely inspections and appraisals that will need to be made on the home. Your realtor will help coordinate the inspections and appraisals to prepare for the closing.
In addition to securing financing for the buyer and making all necessary appraisals and inspections, the seller will then need to make arrangements to move out of the house. The faster this is done, the better. It is not an immediate process. Doing so within a week’s time is a pretty fast turnaround. A typical and reasonable closing time is from thirty to forty five days. If it is less than that, you are very lucky.
How Does a Closing Work?
Typically the buyer and seller meet in an office setting at the closing agent’s office. All paperwork is reviewed and money changes hands. Basically, the closing finalizes the deal and makes everything official. Some things you might expect are:
- The buyer pays the seller
- The seller pays off any mortgage left
- The buyer signs mortgage documents
- The buyer signs insurance documents
- The title of the property is transferred and recorded along with any liens from mortgages
- Transaction fees are paid
- Any adjustments to costs are calculated and distributed accordingly
- The walk through must be signed off on and all terms should be met
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