ONE WEEK BEFORE YOU GET YOUR KEYS
It’s one week before you officially get the keys to your home – HOORAY! You’ve been packing and preparing to move into your new home. Before you get your keys, here is what you can expect one week prior to your official closing date. Follow my closing routine for a smooth transition into your new home. 🏡
SIGNING YOUR CLOSING DISCLOSURES
The Closing Disclosure (CD) is sent to you at least 3 days prior to signing. You MUST sign this document at least 3 days before your official signing date. The state of Washington now requires that there be at least 3 days time between the signing of your CD and signing your final loan documentation.
What is a Closing Disclosure (CD)?
The closing disclosure is a complete breakdown of your loan costs. This includes: your loan interest rate, monthly payment, Premium Mortgage Insurance (PMI) if you are putting less than 20% down, how long it will take you to pay off your loan (super depressing!) and a summary of your total closing costs. Nothing should be a surprise here. But make sure to review and call your lender with any questions. Learn more about your total closing costs when purchasing a home here.
FINAL WALK THROUGH
As a homebuyer, you are given the opportunity to perform a final walk through of your soon-to-be home or investment property. The intent of the final walk through is to verify that the home is in the same condition it was when you wrote the offer and to verify that all major systems and appliances are working. This does not include any minor dings in doorways, trim or scuffs on the walls.
If the seller agreed to complete repair items during the inspection negotiations and we haven’t verified that they were complete, this is the time to do it. Dependent on what the repairs are, I advise we rehire the home inspector to come out and reinspect the repair items. Ideally, invoices and photos are provided to you showing the agreed upon work was complete, prior to the walk through.
Finally, If you are curious if your couch will fit in the living room, or need measurements in any other room, bring your tape measure and take measurements – now is the time! This is the last time you will be inside the home before I delivered the keys as the official Homeowner!
SET UP YOUR UTILITIES
I will prompt you to do this about a week in advance. You will call or set up online accounts, beginning service the day of close. In Washington, the day of “Closing” is synonymous to the day you get your keys, unless you have agreed to allow the seller to rent-back the home.
SIGNING YOUR FINAL DOCUMENTS
Your final signing appointment ideally happens at least 1 day prior to Closing and Funding. It can transpire on the same day, but it isn’t ideal. If you are signing the final documents out of the state, we’ll need to pay extra attention to timeliness. And YES! You can sign your final documents while out of town AND close on your new home.
Final signing appointments aren’t usually scheduled until the day before they actually happen. Why? The escrow company is waiting on the lender to send over the final documents. Until they have those, they don’t know that they WILL be able to schedule the signing! Much like putting the horse before the carriage. Allocate at least an hour of time to signing your final loan documents. Although it often takes less time, you do have to sign a lot of documents as a buyer.
If you have a hard time getting time off OR the Escrow Office is located further that you want to travel, a licensed notary can come to you! If you are purchasing your home with cash, you may have the option of signing your final loan documents electronically.
I try to be at every single signing. This is one of the last milestones in purchasing a home and I do my absolute best to be there! If however, the signing conflicts with a prior obligation I can not adjust, I’ll be with you in thoughts and fortunately the professional you are signing with, is capable of answering any and all questions!
If you are just starting the home buying process, check out our blog on how to write a winning offer – it isn’t always about price. 😃
Perhaps you have ambitions to renovate your next home but HGTV is your only reference (be careful!) Watch my series on renovating my Mid-Century home in Old Town Tacoma.
