Whether you are buying a home in Park City, UT, or anywhere else in the United States, the closing process follows a general procedure. While different situations can arise, there are some things you can expect to happen during the closing process.  

Open Up An Escrow Account

Once you find the right house, put in an offer, and have it accepted, it is not like other transactions, where the sale is completed upon the accepted offer. Instead, you will need to open up an escrow account, which is an account held by a third-party to ensure that the financial risks to both you, the buyer, and the seller are mitigated.

The money to purchase the home is held in this account until the closing is completed and all the documents are signed. In Utah, the opening of your escrow account coincidences with your due diligence period, where you can investigate that this home is what the seller says it is and that there are no unknown encumbrances.

Perform Title Search And Insurance

To ensure that your property is free of any encumbrances, whether old unpaid taxes or potential claimants, it is critical that you have a title search done. A title search involves reviewing all the public records pertaining to the property and investigating any claims on the property.

An attorney or a title company can perform the title search, or you can do the title search yourself. Also, you can purchase title insurance to help protect yourself if something was missed during the title search.

Review And Sign The Closing Disclosure

Before you go to sign the closing paperwork and transfer funds out of escrow, the next step is to review and sign the closing disclosure. This disclosure will outline the terms of your property loan, go over the final closing costs, and clarify if there are any outstanding fees or charges you will need to address.

Also, during this time, you can contact the escrow agent for copies of all the closing documents and review them at home. That way, you don’t need to try and review them all as you sit at the escrow agency. You may need to use a real estate glossary to define the terms and review the documents with your real estate agent to ensure that these documents are all above board.

Do A Final Walk-Through

After reviewing and signing the closing disclosure, you will need to do a final walk-through of your prospective property before signing the final paperwork. This walk-through will allow you to check to make sure that your future property has not become damaged between the time you had it inspected, and that the seller has completed any stipulated fixes and improvements.

Along with doing a final walk-through, you should have had a professional home inspection done before the walk-through. Depending on the lender, a home inspection may be required to be approved for your mortgage. However, even if you have the option, you should not opt out of the inspection, as that is one of the most common home buying mistakes in a short-sighted attempt to save money.

You can take the home inspection paperwork along with you as you do your final walk-through and have a better idea about areas where the property inspector expressed concerns or made any distinct notes.  

Sign Documents And Pay Closing Costs

Once the closing day arrives, be sure you know if you need one or two forms of identification before heading in to sign the closing documents. You may also need to pay closing costs and may need to bring a cashier’s check or be prepared for a wire transfer. After you have signed the documents and paid the closing costs, the property is officially yours!

While these things are what you can generally expect during the home buying closing process, each situation is unique. Having the assistance of an experienced realtor can make all the difference when you want your closing process to go smoothly.

So, for the best experience buying a home in Park City, be sure you talk to us at Jensen and Company and see how we can help you through your whole home buying process.