The following was taken from an article on MSN Real Estate.
Closing on a house can be joyful or horrific. Follow this advice for a smooth settlement.
You finally found the house of your dreams. You signed a contract and got approved for a mortgage. You've even hired the movers. Now comes the most important part: the closing.
In an ideal world, closing should be a mere formality, where homebuyer and seller sign on the dotted lines, exchange checks for the keys and shake hands. But this isn't an ideal world, which means that if you and the professionals you hired don't prepare, your closing could be a disaster.
Here are six tips for ensuring your closing goes smoothly:
1. Ask questions. Knowing what to expect and communicating with all parties involved in the deal are key to a successful closing. Talk to the people who are representing you ahead of time.
2. Anticipate human error. Missing loan documents could be enough to cancel the deal at the last minute.
3. Review loan documents in advance. One way to ensure all is going as planned is to tell the lender that you want to review the documents before closing, or ask your attorney to do so.
4. Take a check. Another reason to review the loan documents in advance is so you know how much money you must bring to closing. And yes, you will need a check at closing, most likely a certified one. Many buyers are so anxious and excited that they forget they need to stop at the bank to get the check.
5. Take the day off. A smooth closing may take less than 30 minutes, but you won't know for sure if your closing will go as planned until it's done. Trying to close during your lunch break is a bad idea.
6. Expect the unexpected - including typos. One of the biggest holdups in closings is when the mortgage documents are incorrect. Sometimes, you have to correct the interest rate, or the amount is wrong and you need to fix it. Because of a simple typo, your loan documents may need to be sent back to the lender to be redone. To prepare for these unexpected delays, borrowers should try to schedule their closings for earlier in the day. And don't wait until the last day on the contract to close - especially when you are buying a foreclosure or short sale.
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