You’re buying a home, you’ve found a place you love and your offer has been accepted. Sounds like a dream, right? However, you’re still a few steps away from choosing paint swatches and buying the perfect curtains. The real estate closing process can be long and arduous when you’re buying a home, but before you even close, you’ll need to make sure your home is ready to go. Here are just a few things you’ll want to do before your real estate closing:
- Make sure you get a last walkthrough. Before you sign the papers, go on one last walkthrough of the house. Everything should be in place and in good condition – if there’s a huge hole in the wall that wasn’t there last time, it’s better to find out before you close.
- Make sure everything is fixed. If the previous owner promised to fix some issues before closing, double check that they made all the repairs they said they would. You can avoid nasty problems down the road by making sure they’ve done their part.
- Get the utilities switched. When you’re buying a home, the excitement can drive out practical issues like getting the utilities put in your name. You can avoid a connection fee by switching the utilities from the previous owner’s name into your name. If they get disconnected first, you’ll be slapped with fees that can stack up quickly.
- Set a move-in date. Although your closing date can be the day you move in, if you’re planning on painting or doing any renovations, you’ll want to set the date for sometime after the real estate closing process. If you’re planning on moving in the same day of the closing, make sure it’s clear to the previous owners. Although it seems like common sense, there are plenty of horror stories of new homeowners who turned up with a moving van full of their belongings only to find the previous owners had yet to vacate the premises.
- Call the movers. Make sure you reserve your moving date once you know when you’ll be closing. If you’re going to be renting a moving truck yourself, you’ll still want to make a reservation. Finding out you can’t move for another week because you don’t have movers can severely hamper your transition into your new home.
Before you settle down to cross your T’s and dot your I’s at your real estate closing, make sure you have your affairs in order. You’ll spare yourself tons of trouble down the road by making plans and doing your due diligence in advance.
