Realty411 Magazine Featuring Eric Counts, Credit Nerds | Page 33

8. Has the buyer’s loan been approved? If not find out
what the problem is and how to fix it if it can be fixed. If
the loan has been approved find out what the proposed
closing date is going to be. Has your buyer ordered
insurance yet? You need to check this out and it needs to
be done as soon as possible. This is another area where
you could have a glitch. Sometimes the age of the
property or the location of the property becomes an
issue. For example, here in Florida where I live, if there
is a hurricane brewing, we end up in a “box” which is a
period of time where you can’t buy insurance until a
hurricane passes. This can hold up a closing for several
days unless the insurance is already in place. A buyer
must purchase a homeowners policy for one year and it
must pre­paid at closing.
9. If you are selling a condo or a home with a home
owners association, make sure the lender and the buyers
have a copy of the home owner association rules and
documents and that the buyers have set up their
appointment for their meeting with the condo
association or home owners association. If they are not
approved by the condo association or homeowners
association, the rest of the closing is a mute point. You
need to make sure your buyer’s get through this process
successfully.
10. So now we have a set closing date. Make sure you
contact the closing agent to make sure you get a copy
of the HUD or closing statement before the closing
takes place and before you arrive at a closing. Very
recently we had a closing that didn’t take place
because once we got the HUD all the figures including
the asking price and seller assisted closing costs had all
been changed. The closing price listed on the HUD
was several thousand lower than the contract had
called for. I have never seen anything like it and the
deal never closed. Check the numbers! If there is a
Realtor fee involved make sure the percentages are
correct. Check the pro rated amounts you are being
charged for property taxes or association fees. When
you close on a property during the year, say in June
and property taxes are due in October; you have to
reimburse the buyer for the property taxes from
January until the closing date in June since they didn’t
own the property during that time period. The same
would go for any association fees there might be. You
will have to reimburse the buyer for the period during
the month that they did not own the property. Double
check to make sure these figure are correct. In my
contract, if we are assisting the buyer in any way with
closing costs, the buyer can’t walk away from closing
with more than five hundred dollars. So this is another
figure we check. Any amount over the five hundred
dollars is credited back to our side on the closing
statement.
11. Call your buyer and make sure they have gotten a
cashiers check for any monies they have to bring to
closing and make sure they know where it is and what
time the closing takes place. Make sure they bring a
photo ID with them. The lender will require this.
Believe me when I tell you that these are all lessons
learned from experience.
12. Now, Show up at the closing and don’t forget to bring
the keys or garage door openers. Take several deep
breaths and try to relax. Once you get through the
closing take another deep breath, call your spouse and
go out to dinner to celebrate.
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