When it comes to closing a home, there are a number of steps that you can follow to make sure that the transition goes smoothly. One of the first things that you need to do when you are planning a move to a new home is to visit a local courthouse and find property records that detail the ownership of real estate in your community.
Such records are important as they give the owners of today evidence that they have strong, insurable and marketable title to the house that they are selling. Almost as importantly, these records also allow buyers to be able to offer proof of ownership when the time comes for them to sell.
The closing process, which is also referred to as escrow or settlement in other areas of the United States, is increasingly automated and computerized, with buyers and sellers often not even needing to attend a specific event in a number of cases, as signed paperwork can simply be sent via overnight delivery to the closing agent.
In practice, closings tend to bring together a variety of different parties who are all part of the transaction process during the relocation to a new home. At closing, claims such as legal fees, transactions and closing costs all need to be settled, and transfer taxes must also be paid. In the great majority of transactions, the closing agent will also complete the paperwork that is needed to record the loan. Settlement is a very brief process in which both sellers and buyers actually need to do very little.
Lance Grooms
