Closing & Signing

What happens at Closing?
After your escrow officer has drawn all the documents and made sure that all provisions are satisfied you will receive a call. An appointment will be arranged. Plan for the signing of escrow papers to take about an hour.

What to bring
There are several acceptable forms of identification which may be used at the signing:
A current drivers license
Passport
State of California DMV. ID Card

One of these forms of identification are required at the signing of escrow documents because the documents must be notarized. Occasionally, the buyer or seller will need to bring a cashiers check to the signing to satisfy a contract condition. It must be a cashiers check issued by a California financial institution and made payable to the title company for the amount indicated by your escrow officer. Personal checks are rejected and may delay closing. Out of state checks delay closing.

Getting your current loan(s) paid off
Unless a buyer assumes your current loan(s) at the close of escrow, you will need to provide complete loan information to me and/or your escrow officer. The sooner this is provided, the better. The escrow officer needs this information to order the loan payoff demands so the loan(s) will be paid off fully and correctly at close of escrow. Also, you will need to provide the information about your homeowner's association if there is one. I will help you determine this.

After the signing
When the seller and buyer have signed all necessary instructions and documents, your escrow officer will return these to the new lender for a final review. Following the review, which usually occurs within a few days, the lender is ready to fund the buyer's loan and then notifies your escrow officer. The escrow officer then finalizes all documents in preparation for official recordation with the county and "close of escrow".

Close of escrow
Close of escrow is the legal transfer of title of a property from the seller to the buyer and represents the culmination of the transaction. Usually the Grant Deed and Deed of Trust are recorded within one business day of the escrow's receipt of loan funds.

The sale proceeds
You will receive the proceeds from the sale of your house or property on the day the sale is completed, the documents are recorded and the escrow is closed.

After closing
There are steps which must be finished to complete the transaction. Your existing loan is paid in full through escrow. Your lender must issue a full reconveyance of their loan by removing the previous Deed of Trust from the property, recording the removal and returning the original to you. This will take several weeks normally.

In some cases the escrow company is instructed to hold some funds in escrow to pay-off  obligations resulting from work done on the property that is not yet complete. Examples would be setting aside funds for repair of structural problems, remodeling, termite work or the like. Upon completion of the work and receipt of the proper documentation and/or releases, the escrow officer will disburse the reserved funds.