Closing Escrow Tomorrow! Yay!!!

[pancho619]

So I get a call a few minutes ago from the Escrow/Title company letting me know that they're ready to close escrow, so my wife and I have an appointment tomorrow @ 10am. We were very fortunate to get a beautiful new house at an awesome price. Our first child is on its way and we wanted to make sure we had a home for him/her so we broke the piggy bank and went for it. It's been a great experience, especially picking the flooring, carpeting and such for the house. I always see other people posting about their new homes here on ATOT so I wanted to share our experience as well. I'll post pix after we move in (2 weeks).

Oh yeah, the point of the thread was to find out what to expect at the signing appointment? They told me to bring my drivers license and a cashier's check for the amount they mentioned, but I'm thinking of bringing any and all paperwork that we've exchanged since the start of the process. Thanks for any advice.

-- Frank

 

[Lola]

I would like to know this too... as we are doing the same thing in the next few weeks!

BTW, congrats on the house and the little one on the way! :beer:

 

[Vic]

First, congratulations!

What to expect? A sore wrist from signing your name 100+ times.

Seriously, just make sure that everything on the final documents is what they promised you. Rate, terms, payments, etc.

 

[pancho619]

Thanks Lola Congrats to you on the house as well.

Thanks Vic for the info, yeah, the contract signing alone was a pain in the wrist also. I was thinking of getting a rubber signature stamp

 

[PanzerIV]

Hell, I only did it almost a year ago to date and I don't remember having to bring anything else other than my checkbook but I may have. I DO remember signing mountains of papers and you will too.

 

[dullard]

Expect ~45 minutes of signing endless papers. But that is about it. Get your keys and go lay down on your new carpet or roll in your new grass, etc.

I would bring paperwork with you. When I closed on my house I noticed a $500 error where they wanted us to pay twice for something. I brought out the paper showing that I had indeed already paid for it, and they took care of the problem.

 

[bsobel]

Congratulations. I've done this a number of times now, there is nothing too scary going to happen (but you should know now, a poor tree died to give you the stack of papers your going to sign).

Basically your going to sign all the final paperwork, so take time and actually read it and verify that nothing has changed from what you were told prior (nothing should have, however I've heard horror stories of lenders changing terms, etc that you don't find out about until then, and many people are so excited they just sign and don't notice).

Good luck! Oh, how about pics once the place is yours?

Bill

 

[nakedfrog]

I'm just getting ready to go to a showing on Saturday, myself. Not gonna be ready to build my own home for a number of years yet. It's gonna be a geodesic dome house, though

 

[LikeLinus]

We close on Monday and we've been told the same thing! Only bring licenses and a cashiers check for closing cost. We're very excited but don't know what to expect. The mortgage company said to expect an hour or so worth of signing and reading documents

 

[pancho619]

Thanks Panzer, Dullard and bsobel for the input. I've read every paper they've given me so far and I'll definitely read as much as possible tomorrow during the signing. I don't want them sneaking any extra $$$ above what I'm already forking out.

I'll definitely post pix. I've been taking pix of the house every week since we signed the contract, I'll make a slide show beginning from when it was an empty lot to what we'll receive in a couple of weeks. Thanks guys.

 

[DrPizza]

Congrats!
We're in the middle of purchasing home #2... moving our stuff into the moving van all day today - to take to storage... We should be closing next week, followed by some renovations and slowly moving into the new place.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

One thing nobody ever mentioned yet is to do a very thorough walk-down during closing day: turn on and off each light switch 3 times, look around for cracks where the ceiling meets the wall, etc, etc.

If you see a head of a nail sticking out, don't say: oh, i can fix that myself later. make the professionals who built your nice new house to be accountable to fix anything and everything.

if need be, get a 3rd party inspector to walk down with you for $200-$400. i think it's worth it.

 

[NogginBoink]

I'll chime in with a me too.

All the hard work has already been done. You should expect to sign your name a zillion times. As others said, review the figures, but I would expect them to be fine. Bring a checkbook 'just in case' but you shouldn't need it.

 

[Vic]

Don't bother bringing your checkbook. Escrow won't accept personal checks. Verified, paper-trailed, guaranteed funds only (cashiers check).
State-issued ID (drivers license) is required for the notary and so the lender can have a copy on file.

 

[dquan97]

just get ready to sign a mound of papers. Also be sure to have a picture ID with you.

 

[pancho619]

Yup, they asked for a cashier's check and my driver's license so I'm ready with both.

As far as the walk-through, that's already been scheduled for the 4th of March. I plan on taking an expert with me to examine the house, my dad is a contractor and will be doing the walk-through with us.

Thank you all for the all the info.

 

[Doggiedog]

Write down a list of problems you may have seen with the house. You could use it as leverage to lower the closing price.

 

[pancho619]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Write down a list of problems you may have seen with the house. You could use it as leverage to lower the closing price.

Wish I could, but it's a brand new house, still being finished right now. Doubt there'll be anything wrong with it