Once your home is under contract, you need to get organized for the closing which is the legal transfer of your property’s title and final stage of the selling process. Prior to closing, you need to ensure that everything that remains to be done as outlined in the agreement is completed so the buyer cannot exercise any option to walk away from the agreement. It is important to be aware of all the deadlines in the contract and are able to meet them.
One of these items could be a house inspection which allows the buyer at their expense to conduct an inspection of the property within a mutually agreed upon number of days from the contract execution. If the buyer asks for any repairs as a result of the home inspection, you will need to review this request with your listing agent. Your response could be to agree to make all the repairs, negotiate to only do a few or not make any at all. In making this determination, you should take into consideration the extent and cost of the repairs along with the price paid for the property. The buyer does have the option to walk away from the agreement during this inspection period so you want to do what is fair and in the best interest of working towards a successful closing.
In preparing for the closing, you will want to do the following:
*Clean the entire home including inside drawers and closets.
*Close utility accounts and have them shut off at the end of day of the closing. Have your listing agent confirm with buyer’s agent that the power will be shut off on the day of closing.
*Cancel your home owner’s insurance policy or have it switched to your new address. It is important that this not become effective until after the title has been formally transferred.
*Turn off shut-off valves to water.
*Pull together all keys, alarm codes, any fobs and/or garage door openers and leave them where your buyer can find them in the home or have your listing agent bring them to closing to hand them to the new buyer with an explanation of what is what.
*Forward your mail and change your address at the post office within the required time frame established by the post office to make such changes.
*Notify all creditors, subscription services and others of your change of address with the effective date for the new address.
*Pull together all the appliance manuals, service contracts, warranties, etc. and leave them for the new buyer.
The details of the closing with regards to the escrow agent, date and location will be spelled out in the agreement. Prior to the closing date, escrow will order the preliminary title report including any payoff balances from your lender and property tax information. You will also receive a Settlement Statement that outlines the financial responsibilities of the buyer and seller. Be sure to review the statement for accuracy and report any mistakes to the escrow agent.
On the day of the closing, both parties will sign all paperwork required for the closing of your home and the buyer will arrange to have the required proceeds wired to the established escrow account. However, it is very common today for the seller to sign the paperwork in advance of the closing date leaving only the buyer to sign the paperwork on the day of the closing.
Once all paperwork has been signed and the money has made its way to your account from escrow, the title of your home has formally transferred and you no longer own the home. Be sure to keep all your closing documents in a safe place so you can access them, if needed.
Hope you found the above to be of interest. If you have any questions or are looking to buy or sell residential real estate in South Florida and not currently working with an agent, please do not hesitate to contact me at (954) 547-9483 or via email at jkenney10f@gmail.com. Thanks
Jay Kenney