Step 8 to Purchasing a Home

After we get a ratified contract, many of these steps will have to worked on simultaneously. This step involves hiring the closing attorney and actually setting up the closing. I don't recommend you do this until you are past the home inspection phase. You don't want to put the attorney to work until you are past that phase. Once both sides have agreed on the repair addendum, call your attorney and set up a closing date and time. They get busy toward the end of the month when most closings occur and you want to go ahead and book an appointment. Of course, you should have already called a few and found out their prices and found who you were most comfortable with. They will probably be providing you with title insurance as well, so ask them about that. Most closing attorneys own a title insurance company. It seems like a conflict of interest, but apparantly it's not. It just makes things easier. Title insurance is required by your lender. They are going to want to make sure they have title to the property even if the attorney missed something in the records.

The attorney will do a title search and make sure that there is a clear title to be conveyed. He will also record the sale in the court records after closing. His fees are part of that 3% of purchase price for closing costs and prepaid items. Attorney fees and lender fees make up most of the closing costs.

The attorney will coordinate to pay your chosen insurance company and the property taxes. He will also prepare the HUD settlement statement that shows all final costs to both the buyer and seller. You should receive this HUD statement for review at least 24 hours before closing, but it depends on how well your lender gets the closing instructions to the attorney. On the HUD statement, you will find the final amount that you are supposed to bring to closing. This will have to be in certified funds usually made out to the attorney. You also need to have your driver's license at closing.

Your realtor doesn't have to be at closing, but should make every effort to be there in case there are problems. Finally, you should make sure you get all the keys to the property and any instructions about security alarms.