How do you bring money to closing?

One of the questions I get asked is “do I bring a check to closing?”  There are a couple different answers to this question and it truly depends on the title company.

Each title company has different requirements depending on the amount you need to bring. If you need less than $1000, you can usually just bring a personal check and write it out to the title company. If you need more than that, we need to verify how the title company wants the money.

For large amounts, many title companies want you to wire funds to them. This has been a hot topic lately as there has been a lot of fraud going on. So if you are going to wire funds to your title company, please verify the information before sending a wire.  You will get an email with wire instructions, however there are many fraudulent emails going around with what looks like a valid email/wire instructions and they aren’t.  The best way to avoid a problem is to call the title company and verify the instructions – however, do not use the phone number on the email. Call your loan officer or your closer and verify that you have the correct information.

Some title companies have gone back to just using cashier’s checks from your bank. This also works very well – however, make the check out to the title company. A few years ago, we always told clients to make it out to themselves and then sign it over to the title company – that doesn’t work anymore. You will need to make it out to the title company.

The amount you need to bring will be verified right before closing – you will get a closing disclosure at least three days prior to closing and that will have the amount you need to bring. There are still times that the dollar figure changes, but it shouldn’t change by very much. Sometimes we need to get additional information before we can issue the final amount. For example, we could be waiting on final numbers from an association so the dollar amount could change due to association dues.

The most important thing to remember is if you get an email a day or two before closing with new instructions, please verify with your loan officer or title company before you send any money anywhere! It’s better to take the extra time to make a phone call then have an issue at your closing.

Leslie Vanderwerf,  NMLS ID#335509, American Mortgage & Equity Consultants, Inc., An Equal Housing Lender, NMLS#150953 – Email – Website