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Step 14: The Closing Table At the closing table, title to the real estate and ownership of any personal property in the contract will transfer ownership from the sellers to you. In return, they and their lenders will be paid out the contracted purchase price and all liens satisfied so the property is clear to transfer in ownership to you.
It is at this time that you will actually assume the mortgage from your lender, and interest will begin accruing from this day forward. You will pay a prorata share of daily interest for the current month up front, then make your first mortage payment a month later.
My role at the closing table is to be a source of resource and support for you. It is your attorney who has the starring role, and he or she will be walking you through a relative mountain of paperwork to accomplish the property transfer. The sellers may or may not be present, but their attorney certainly will be.
Your attorney will check all the HUD-1 charges and against the contract, the lender's Good Faith Estimate, review the lender's note (the terms of your mortgage) and help you negotiate any credits or holdbacks from the final walkthrough, etc. At the end of a typical closing (assuming the title company has received the lender's funds), you will receive:
1. A copy of all the documents you've just signed
2. A copy of the final HUD-1 statement
3. A check refunding any money you brought to the table in excess of what you actually owed
4. The keys to the property
Sometimes, there can be a few hours' delay between completion of the paperwork and the funding of the mortgage. In this case, you will have to wait until the wired money arrives at the title company before you receive your excess funds check or the keys.
At this point, congratulations and celebration are definitely in order!
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