Important Facts to Know at Your Real Estate Closing
Real estate closings might represent a stressful event for a home buyer. However, the real estate closing process is a necessary legal process that sees the ownership of a home transferred from one party to another.
Here are a few items that should be done for real estate closings:
Perform a title search — Before real estate closings are complete, a home buyer should hire a title company, or a real estate attorney, to perform a title search and purchase title insurance. These steps are taken in order to protect the buyer’s ownership to the property after the closing, despite any title issues might arise at a later date.
Be sure to place your good faith deposit in an Escrow Account — Until real estate closings are complete, all money should be held in an escrow account, which is a third party account. This prevents both parties involved in the real estate transaction from losing money, as it is being held in a neutral account until the closing is completed and title has been successfully passed from seller to purchaser.
Settle on the Closing Cost Fees — Be aware that escrow companies sometimes charge what are considered “junk” fees. Make sure to look over all fees being charged and ask questions about any fees that seem suspicious, such as application review fees, appraisal review fees, email fees, or anything else that stands out when reviewing. Make sure you know exactly what you are paying for.
Ensure the Home is Inspected — Before finalizing all details of a transaction at real estate closings, buyers should ensure that a home inspection has been performed on the property they wish to purchase. While this is not a requirement for real estate closings, it is always wise for the buyers to ensure there are no serious problems with a home before sealing the deal. If any issues are found at the inspection, the buyer can ask the seller to fix the issue or renegotiate the purchase price.
Make it Final — The most important part of real estate closings is signing all legal documents and making the transaction final. There will be several papers to sign and you are entitled to make sure you understand every document before signing it. Don’t let anyone pressure you to sign something that you do not understand. Buying a home is a major investment and you should understand the legalities that come with signing these important documents.
Real estate closings can be stressful, especially for the home buyers. Take your time, understand all documents you are signing and then feel free to celebrate afterwards…you just bought a home!