REAL ESTATE CLOSING

It nearly everyone’s dream is to own a home. The feeling of owning a property where you will have to pay monthly charges is an exceptional achievement. But do you know that apart from meeting the budget for purchasing your favorite home you still need to do one more thing? Real estate closing, also known as “escrow,” “completion,” or “settlement,” is the last step toward achieving the goal of owning a home. Because real estate closing is as important as mobilizing the funds for acquiring your property, it is worth knowing its essentials. By doing so, you will be certain of what you need to do from the start.

What happens at real estate closing?

As a seller affirms an offer provided by a property buyer, the establishment of a purchase agreement is kick-started. Further, a closing day is planned. After this, the ownership of the property changes from a seller to a buyer. Thereafter, the buyer will be free to move in or organize for some remodeling as they wish. The lender, title agency, and the agent may work together to bring the contract to a conclusion.

How does a real estate closing work?

The following are the things you should know about real estate closing:

• You will examine and sign loan documents. Carefully examine the terms listed in every document. If you identify anything that you didn’t expect or something you are not pleased with, stop. Don’t sign unless the matter is dealt with and you are satisfied.

• You will hand over the documentation of the homeowner’s insurance and where applicable, the inspection.

• You will give a cashier’s check to satisfy the down payment (where necessary), closing costs, prepaid interest, taxes, and insurance. If you wish, you can arrange to transfer the first using the wire transfer.

• The lender will issue the funds to the closing agent to pay for the property mortgage amount

• Sometimes, you may need to have an escrow account to cater for the homeowner’s insurance and the applicable taxes in addition to your monthly mortgage.

When the closing comes to a successful conclusion, the buyer and seller will have achieved. But there will be still some other things that may be of concern. The major one will be a delay arising from undue preparations. Avoid the eleventh-hour dissatisfactions. Evaluate your HUD-1 form early enough. Additionally, do a final walk-through of your property-to-be to be sure that any matter of concern that was noted during the inspection was attended to.

During the closing the meeting, the parties that will be involved include the seller, real estate attorney, real estate agents, and delegates for the lender and the Title Company. Also, expect to sign legal papers before the property is handed over to you as a property buyer.

On the closing day, have all the closing documents, government-given photo license, and the mode of payment. More so, it is good to take your checkbook to cater for unanticipated payments.

How long does real estate closing take?

There is no definite answer to this. This is because, during the real estate closing, other factors and processes will come into play. At the end of it, the closing could be lengthened beyond your expected dates. For example, hidden files, misplaced documents, and ambiguities from other parties involved make the timelines even harder to figure out.

The expiry of the interest rate lock and sometimes loan commitment is a common hurdle with homebuyers. If the rate that is locked in by certain homebuyer(s) lapses before the closing, they might be stuck striving to meet huge interest rates. As a homebuyer, the worst case could be getting into the race trying to qualify again. About the closing time, we would say that despite some challenges, the closing shouldn’t go past two weeks.

Where does a real estate closing take place?

The real estate closing usually takes place at the lender’s office, office of the real estate closing attorney, or that of the title company. If you want the interest rate to be at an acceptable amount, have your attorney analyze your fine print on paperwork. The real estate closing attorneys serving Miami will also confirm for you whether there is some prepayment fine.

Why should you choose Miami Title & Escrow? We are attorney-owned and operated, hence; you will have an advantage considering the legal pieces of guidance given by our legal team. Among other services, we offer real estate closing as well as other real estate-related services in Miami. Pleasingly, we have been in the profession long enough to acquire the experience you can rely on.