8 Tips for Closing on a House

So you selected the perfect house and you’ve made an offer, which was accepted. Now you’re ready to proceed to closing on a house, right? Well, not exactly. We have a few tips on the tasks you’ll need to attend to in the days and weeks before closing.

1. Get a trusted real estate attorney, if you don’t already have one: There will be a mountain of papers to sign and a great deal of due diligence to ensure you’re protected. With tens or, more likely, hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line, the price of a real estate lawyer is worthwhile protection.

2. Open an escrow account: This permits a neutral third party to hold funds until all matters related to the real estate transaction have been settled.

3. Perform a home title search: A real estate title search and survey verifies that the property is as advertised and that there are no liens or taxes owed. The mortgage lender may also require you to get title insurance.

4. Negotiate closing costs: Some closing fees can be removed if you simply ask, which is another reason why it’s good to have a competent real estate agent and a knowledgeable attorney. Additionally, you may be able to negotiate with the seller on who shoulders the remaining closing costs.

5. Schedule a complete home inspection: This is another one of those small costs associated with buying a house that may seem like a nuisance, but it’s important to have a professional home inspector evaluate the house to ensure there are no major defects that you’ve overlooked, such as code violations or pest infestations. If problems are found, you can then negotiate to have them fixed or nullify the deal.

6. Homeowners insurance: Your mortgage lender will require this home insurance anyway, so just be aware that you’ll need to work with your insurance agent on how much coverage you should have, including coverage for the contents of your home.

7. Home warranty: This is additional you may want to consider to protect yourself against unforeseen defects that may crop up later, but if you decide to acquire this home warranty coverage, choose carefully – some home warranties have far more deductibles and stipulations than others.

8. Final walkthrough: While the home inspection is designed to expose any defects, the final walk-through is to make sure that everything in the house is as it should be, and nothing that was included in the sale has been removed. For instance, an item built into the structure of the house, such as a bathroom medicine cabinet, should not be removed prior to sale. Appliances, on the other hand, may or may not be removed depending on what was negotiated between buyer and seller.

There are a myriad of tasks to cover during the home buying process, and the result can feel overwhelming. In fact, the first item on your closing checklist should actually be a notebook or folder to keep your task lists in! Use this home closing checklist as a thumbnail view to get you on your way toward a successful real estate closing.

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