There’s a lot involved for your clients when leading up to the real estate closing process, and it can often be overwhelming. However, as their agent, you can help ensure that the entire process goes more smoothly in order to ease the stress and frustration that often accompanies the mortgage process. Helping your clients stay on a schedule, explaining the various procedures and documents involved, and setting their mind at ease as the date for the real estate closing process approaches can be a great help for your clients.
Of course, throughout the mortgage process, there are a number of little things that can go wrong or cause delays, but when the day to close on a house finally arrives, you’ll want to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible without any issues. The last thing anyone wants is an unexpected problem with closing costs, title insurance, or even the closing agent. That’s why it’s a good idea to streamline the real estate closing process for your clients with these tips that improve your chances for a stress-free and easy closing day.
1. Ask for the ALTA Combined Closing Statements 3 Days in Advance
Real estate agents can be better prepared for closing day if they ask for the ALTA Statement a few days early. This ensures that you and the buyer have sufficient time to carefully go over all the details related to the closing costs in advance. You should be looking for mistakes or typos, as well as things that might have been left out by accident, such as a home warranty or even a mistake in your commission cost.
2. Don’t Forget the Earnest Money
Until it is time to close on a house, the earnest money is often held by an escrow agent or the title company. But in order to streamline the real estate closing process, the earnest money must be brought to closing day. Otherwise, the closing could be delayed.
3. Confirm Receipt of Closing Documents by the Closing Agent
If you’ve been a real estate agent for a significant length of time, you’ve probably already experienced a closing day where the closing agent never received all the closing documents from the lender. A simple communication between you and the closing agent can confirm that the agent has all the proper documents and the process won’t be delayed at the last minute.
4. Use an Electronic Money Transfer System for Closing Costs
Cashier’s checks use to be pretty common on closing day when it came time to pay the final closing costs. Unfortunately, cashier’s checks are often used in many real estate fraud schemes. They can also be an inconvenience for the buyer, the real estate agent, and the closing attorney, because it takes time to first go get the cashier’s check, as well as time to ensure the funds have cleared. Additionally, if there is a last minute adjustment to closing costs, the cashier’s check will likely be for the wrong amount.
Top remedy all of these issues, many real estate agents prefer to use a ACH money transfer platform. Electronic money transfer platforms are safe, secure, eliminate the need for the buyer to go to the bank, and help to streamline the real estate closing process. A platform such as paymints.io also provides excellent tracking of the transfer at every step, advanced ID verification capabilities to prevent real estate fraud, and bank-level encryption to keep the transfer information safe.
ACH money transfer platforms can also be used for the earnest money deposits, and so are ideally suited for real estate agents and the real estate industry.
5. Verify Banking Information
Before instructing your buyer to send any money via an electronic money platform, verify that all the information needed for the transfer is correct. Check both the amount that is needed for closing costs or other disbursements is correct, as well as the banking information for the recipient of the transfer.
6. Make Sure All Parties Needed to Be at the Closing Will Be There
You might have already experienced a closing day like this as well — both the husband and wife are going to be listed on a deed or title, but only one shows up. Obviously, all parties to be listed on the deed or title need to be at closing, so reminding your clients of this will certainly help to streamline the real estate closing process and prevent delays.
7. Make Sure Your Clients Know What to Bring
The closing attorney typically has all the closing documents required to close on a home, but your clients are also responsible for bringing a few things to closing day. Two forms of ID, for example, as well as any other important documents that might be required for a particular closing, such as the Home Owners Insurance Declarations Page or Death Certificates. And if you aren’t using an electronic money transfer platform, the buyer definitely needs to bring their checkbook in case of any discrepancies in closing costs that must be rectified.
8. Verify the Location and Time of the Closing
Another common issue that occurs on closing day — miscommunication or confusion about the date, time, and location of the closing. And being a little early is okay, but being late is not. Verify the time, location, and date with all parties so that there are no delays or cause to reschedule.
9. Stay on Top of Amendments to the Closing Documents
It’s quite common for addendums to occur throughout the mortgage process and even at closing. However, if the lender or closing attorney does not have updates of these addendums, it could cause a significant delay. Be sure to send the closing attorney and lender all updates to the contract as soon as they occur to streamline the real estate closing process.
10. Know Your Client
Real estate agents deal with all kinds of people. If you know that the buyer is likely to be difficult at the closing, try to come up with a plan that ensures that closing day goes smoothly. For example, if your client is the type that insists on reading every detail of the closing documents, then being sure to get the documents to the buyer early will save ample time.
Quite often there are parties involved that just don’t like each other. It’s possible your client doesn’t even like you. Whatever issues there may be, making all others aware of it can serve to eliminate some tension at closing day, and you might even be able to plan for separate rooms to avoid any trouble.