7. Does the lender have your information in order to be able to order a payoff on any underlying loans on the property? Have they received the payoff yet and have you reviewed it to make sure it is correct? Don’ t just assume that just because they have been given figures that those figures are correct. Make sure they fax you a copy of the payoff for you to review. Double check the per diem amounts and make sure you aren’ t being charged a prepayment penalty if there isn’ t one due. Make sure the most recent payment has been credited against the amount due. These are problems I have had to deal with. If the loan is with a private lender, sometimes it takes even longer to get a payoff from them. Some of them don’ t know how to prepare one, so they need the help of the title company or their real estate attorney for this. This is also the time you might be able to negotiate a discount with them. This works especially well if it was a seller held mortgage. We have gotten private lenders and sellers to negotiate discounts on loans on several occasions which just made our paycheck bigger.
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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.
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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 sellerassisted 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
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