It is typically about 45 days from the time you come to an agreement to purchase a home until closing… which can seem like a long time while you are waiting to get into your new home! During this time your lender may ask you for what can seem like interminable financial information and title work is completed as your purchase is cleared through final underwriting. Then you review and approve your closing disclosure/preliminary settlement statement, and docs are prepared for closing.
The couple above is smiling because closing day has finally arrived! We met at their new house before closing for their final walkthrough to make sure everything was still in the condition in which they bought it. Sometimes the seller does some repairs before closing which we would check… but this one did not so we just walked through, checking out every room. The buyers did agree to purchase a few things the sellers left for them, which we confirmed and they left a check for the agreed upon amount for their agent to pick up and deliver to them… sometimes the payment is done via Venmo or something similar.
They found the deck furniture the sellers left for them, and the garage was filled with more garden and lawn tools than they expected… but the nicest surprise was seeing the back yard garden in bloom!
After finishing the final walkthrough we went to the closing office. The sellers had already pre-signed and the buyers had already reviewed their settlement statement and wired their funds for closing, so it was just a matter of signing documents and receiving what they needed to homestead the property. In some states there is a waiting period after signing the documents before you actually get the keys to your new home. In Minnesota, you usually get the keys right after you finish signing… and can move in immediately after closing!
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – shensrud@homesmsp.com