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What Happens at Your Closing?
Your closing, also referred to as settlement, generally takes place in the office of a title insurance company.
At your closing, an escrow officer will review and explain your loan documents, and then ask you to sign each one. After all the papers are signed, you’ll present a cashier’s check or money order for the dollar amount required to finalize the transaction.
Here is a description of some of the documents you can expect to sign:
Review final loan documents
Don't be afraid to ask questions, or to refuse to sign them if they contain an error. Once your signature is on the loan papers, you're committed to abiding by their terms for the next 15 or 30 years.
Review the settlement statement
Compare this final statement to the estimate you received a few weeks earlier. Ask the escrow holder to explain any large discrepancies and check with a real estate professional if you don't get satisfactory answers.
Review the seller's deed
Depending on where you live, ownership will be transferred to you via a warranty deed, security deed or grant deed. Make sure that you get the appropriate form of the deed and that the deed is accurate as to the property address, spelling of your name and how you take title.
Sign the note and trust deed
Don't sign these documents until you've carefully reviewed them and all the documents listed above. The note commits you to a 30-year or 15-year contract and the trust deed allows the lender to foreclose if you don't meet your payment obligations.
Have the seller's deed recorded
The deed must be filed with the local recorder to prove that you're the legal owner of the home. Your escrow holder or closing attorney should perform this task, but you need to do it if they don't.
Get the keys
Celebrate! Move in, settle down, and start taking responsibility for your new home.
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