The Road to Closing on Your Home

When the inspection and the appraisal are complete, most of your work and worry (other than the big job of moving) is done.  However, there are a few items you will want to make sure to take care of prior to closing.

• Promptly Respond to Requests:  If your real estate agent, lender, or title officer requests for your signature or other information necessary to process the transaction, do what you can to respond promptly.  This will  keep things running smoothly and keep you in line with important contract deadlines.

• Complete Agreed Upon Repairs: As a seller, if you agreed to perform repairs as part of the inspection contingency release,  hop to it.  Try to have the repairs done well in advance of closing.  This will give the buyers time to do their reinspection and prevent delays in the finalization of the sale.

• Walk- Through & Re-inspection:  A buyer is allowed a final walk through, typically around 3 calendar days prior to the close of escrow.  The walk through is not a contingency of the sale, but rather to satisfy the buyer that any agreed upon repairs have been completed and that the property is in substantially the same condition as when the offer was made.  As a buyer, this is also a good time to obtain copies of the receipts from the sellers for any agreed upon repairs performed by professional contractors.

• Contact Utility Companies:  Both buyer and seller need to contact the utility companies.  You will want to call prior to closing and let them know what day to transfer the utilities in/out of your name.   The transfer day you will give them is usually the same day as closing.

• Prepare the House:  Although not always required in the contract, it is a courtesy to the buyer to leave your home clean.  It is also customary to leave manuals and warranty information on any major appliances that are remaining in the house, including the HVAC and sprinkler system information.

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