Closing Escrow - Buying a Home

After the contract is signed?

• Often property inspections will have to be performed to verify the condition of the property. This can result in negotiations to correct problems.
• The buyer will have to arrange his financing.
• If a mortgage is taken out, homeowners insurance will be required by the lender.
• Responsibility for utilities will have to be transferred from the seller to the buyer.
• An estimate of closing costs will be prepared by the title company.
• Requesting a copy of the closing documents at the beginning of the process is key to understanding the fine print at the end.
• Normally the seller will have to vacate the property.
• Normally after the property is vacant, the buyer will have a walk through final inspection.
• Sufficient money to cover purchase price and expenses. According to California State Law, all funds must be in the form of a cashier's check or via wire transfer.
• The purchase funds will have to be transferred to the escrow account.

Removing contingencies.

• If complete inspections have not been done before making the purchase offer, there will be contingencies to protect the buyer from unknown problems. Often issues ranging from almost insignificant to fairly expensive major needed repairs will be found by professional inspections. This can lead to stressful renegotiations.

Final walk through inspection.

• Before escrow is closed the buyer will walk through the house to make sure that all specified repairs have been made, that everything belonging to the house as specified in the purchase contract is there, and that the property has been left in an acceptable condition.

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