The Nuts and Bolts of a Real Estate Closing

What happens at a Real Estate closing?

Real estate closings take anywhere from one to two hours. Real estate closings can create a lot of anxiety since most people only experience them a few times in their lifetime. Before you get there, a lot of preliminary work is done. As the seller, your attorney prepares a deed, obtains a payoff figure for your mortgage and reviews the title for irregularities. As a seller, you will call for utility readings to make sure that final readings is taken prior to or just after the closing, so that your bill is finalized. If you are a purchaser, you should do a final walk through to verify that the property is vacant, clean and everything is working. You obtain checks that you need for the closing, your attorney will provide that information to you.

Who will be at the closing and what will they do?

At the closing, there will be a bank attorney, sellers’ and purchaser’s attorneys, the sellers and purchasers. With Covid-19 sometimes the parties will attend through someone else with a power of attorney. There will also be a title closer and realtors. In today’s world realtors are not attending and will have their commission checks mailed to them. Purchasers have to sign many bank documents. The amount of documents varies depending upon which lender you are. These documents are there to perfect the loan process so that it can be funded, the bank solidifies it’s mortgage lien, and payments can be issued. The sellers sign title documents and wait for funds that will be given to them at the end of the closing. The title representative is there to assure that there is clear title, that there are no last minute judgments or liens. The bank needs to perfects their first and primary lien against the property by having a mortgage filed with their local recording authority, usually a county clerk. The attorneys explain the various documents to their respective clients and explain the funds being distributed. The bank attorney is there to verify that everything is complete so that funding can occur. Once all of these things are completed, the parties each exchange copies of documents. They get a statement showing the credits that each received in the transaction. Some documents are given at the closing and some are mailed afterwards with a closing statement.

If you are ever in need of representation and guidance for Real Estate matters, Leonick Law is happy to help. We look forward to working with you.

James F. Leonick
Leonick Law, P.L.L.C.
TEL: (631) 486-9500
Email: info@LeonickLaw.com