THE CLOSING

Michael Holigan: The last step in the buying process is called the closing. You have a lot of documents to read and a lot of paperwork to sign. You need to set aside one to two hours to go through the whole closing process and it's a very important one to two hours of your future.

Female: If you'll turn to the last page, we're going to start there first.

MH: At your closing you'll be putting your "John Hancock" to many documents. Closing is when the title company collects your downpayment and gets a check from the lender for the amount of your mortgage. With these two checks the title company then pays off the seller's mortgage on the house you're about to buy. They also pay off any taxes or liens on the property. The rest goes to the seller as profit. The title is then transferred to your name. George and Gina Rigg brought a couple of pens to their closing and something a lot more important.

George Rigg: I think it's knowledge. It made things a lot quicker in understanding their questions and the paperwork that they showed to us made things, you know, go smoother.

MH: It'll be a big help if you're very familiar with your loan documents and all of your mortgage terms and rates. That way you don't spend a lot of time double-checking figures. You'll confirm with the title company the amount of taxes and insurance included in your monthly payment, and you'll verify that the total figure for your monthly payment is close to the Good Faith Estimate your lender has given and you'll check over fees you've already agreed to - like the cost of your land survey.

GR: It's a dream come true. You know, we just never thought we could, you know, have a house of our own or have the American Dream and just been beyond everything we thought of, you know, for us and our kids and we're going to be here forever.

MH: That final closing can be a stressful business - so don't bring the kids. You need one to two hours to really focus on the documents and all of the paperwork.

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Purchase Video

Episode 65 1997 - 98 Season

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