{"id":2881,"date":"2017-11-04T10:03:28","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T17:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=2881"},"modified":"2019-02-08T10:19:15","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T18:19:15","slug":"what-to-expect-at-closing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-expect-at-closing\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Expect at Closing: From Big Problems to Smooth Sailing"},"content":{"rendered":"

“What to Expect at Closing” is part five of our six part “How to Sell a Single Family Home” series. Check out Part 1<\/a>, Part 2<\/a>, Part 3<\/a>, and Part 4.\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

According to Forbes, failed home sales doubled Nationally<\/a> from 2.1% in 2015 to 3.9% in 2016.<\/p>\n

There are a ton of reasons your pending sale could fall through:<\/a> the buyer\u2019s loan could be rejected, the sale is contingent and the buyer\u2019s home doesn\u2019t sell, you and the buyer can\u2019t settle on a fair price, the home could appraise for less than the offer–the list goes on.<\/p>\n

In Melissa P.\u2019s case, she and her family faced a huge issue with the title of the house during closing that almost ended in a failed home sale.<\/p>\n

In her real estate agent Jeff Galindo\u2019s words, \u201cOnce we\u2019re getting closer to closing, we realize we\u2019ve got a huge title problem. Apparently Dad, who is now deceased, had done some things with financing with some personal family members and some other people that created a bit of a challenge with the title.<\/p>\n

We couldn\u2019t clear the title.<\/p>\n

We went back and forth on that for a while until we really discovered that we were going to need a lot more time to get this thing fixed. We\u2019re in contract, we find the buyer, we do all these things, and now we have to go to the buyer and say, \u2018There\u2019s a problem, how can we resolve it?\u2019<\/p>\n

Long story short we put that buyer into a lease, she leased the house that she was going to buy, and it literally took us four months to fix all the problems with the title.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Desare Kohn-Laski<\/a>, top 1% single family home expert in South Florida<\/a>, if a pending sale falls through the options are limited. The real estate agent can reach out to other buyers who put in an offer (if there are any), but in most cases she just has to re-list the house. If your pending sale fails during closing, you\u2019ll have to start the entire process over again.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t want to get close to that situation. Even though a lot of the factors that can tank the closing are out of your control, if you better educate yourself on what needs to happen<\/a> at closing day on a house, you can take preventative measures to ensure that everything goes through.<\/p>\n

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Source: (Shopify Partners \/ Burst)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s What You Need to Worry About When You Close Your Single Family Home<\/h2>\n

1. Get the Papers Ready for Escrow<\/h3>\n

Escrow is when the money for the single family home sale gets transferred to the escrow officer, who acts as a third party to keep everyone\u2019s money safe until the transaction closes. The escrow officer also orders the title transfer. As you\u2019ll recall, this is the point in the sale process where Melissa P. and her family got tripped up.<\/p>\n

Make sure that you know whose name is on the title of the house and that you will be able to transfer it without hassle. The escrow officer will also prepare closing statements.<\/p>\n

At this point, you need to make sure that everything is all set with your title, you\u2019ve paid off any outstanding loans secured by the house, and you\u2019ve sent in any personal information to the escrow officer.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll most likely need to send your escrow officer documents related to your property. These may include:<\/p>\n