The Closing

The closing is the last step in the buying process. This is the day you sit down and sign all the documents necessary to transfer ownership of the property to you. It can be a bit daunting if you are not prepared for it, but none of it is very bad at all if you are familiar with it.

The paperwork involved mainly consists of your mortgage & bank note, plus a whole pile of documents to protect the bank's investment, including pages stating that you will keep the property in good repair, make sure it is always insured, pay your mortgage on time, etc. If you have questions about any of this, your attorney and I will make sure they are answered.

Final Walk-Through

In order to ensure that the property is in the condition agreed upon, and that any agreed upon repairs are completed, strongly recommend that immediately before the closing we do a Final Walk-Through. This is a quick inspection of the property by you to verify the condition. If there are any objections or problems, then we can being them up at the closing.

Hold Back

In some cases, if something has not been done, we can ask the closing attorney for a Hold-Back. A set fee to be held in escrow from the seller's proceeds until that specific problem is rectified. This can be considered an insurance of sorts. Should the seller not complete the agreed upon repair, then this money can be used directly for the repair. A typical hold back is 1.5x the amount of the estimated repair.

e.g. A broken window was supposed to be fixed, but has not, then there might be a $150 hold-back at the closing. That money won't be released until the repair is finished.

Just the Beginning...

This is the time in which you will get your keys and can move into your new home. So in this case, it isn't a conclusion, it is only the beginning...

Charissa Pemper, Boston REALTOR®

Charissa Pemper
Lic. MA Real Estate Broker, REALTOR®
Charissa@HomesInBoston.com