What Happens Right Before You Sell Your Home
It’s a week before closing, now what?
You’re almost made it! The week before closing may look a little hectic, but here’s the thing. When we plan – and plan in advance, the smoother the process.
Ideally you’d have your movers set up (or have a moving plan if you’re the pizza + beer incentive type) so that you know exactly when your property will be vacant. Movers can be booked out a month to a few weeks so plan accordingly!
When you sign your final documents, the home should be empty & ready for its new owners. Obviously if you’ve negotiated a post closing occupancy or a rent back agreement, that is not the case. In most situations - the home will be clean, empty & ready for its new buyers to start moving on in.
Here are a few things to finalize prior to your move out:
Utilities - make sure to call your utility companies & let them know you the buyers will be transferring utilities into their name. It’s up to them to do the transferring, but it’s up to you to stop services if they don’t. A good rule of thumb to be kind is to plan on stopping service a day or so after closing. That gives the buyer time to transfer and you’re making sure you’re not paying for utilities you’re not using.
Subscriptions & Mail- Make sure to notify all notify subscription services, creditors and acquaintances of your new address and set up mail forwarding
Clean up Karma - Ideally you’d love to have the property in the condition that you’d like to move into. If the buyers have requested repairs, make sure those are finished & that the invoices are sent over for completed work. The contract will usually state that the property is to be “broom clean” - this doesn’t mean hiring professional cleaners, but it does mean neat and tidy. Again - think of clean up karma. What type of home would you want to walk into as a buyer. That is always a safe bet.
Insurance - Let your insurance company know you will no longer be the owner of this home. We recommend giving a week or so extra coverage after closing just to make sure everything transfers and funds properly. You wouldn’t want to have a catastrophe happen right in the middle of changing ownership, that could get pretty messy. The overlap is a great way to ensure that doesn’t happen.
Final Walk Through - The buyers will do a final walk through usually the 24 hours prior to closing. This is to make sure repairs were completed and the house is in the same condition as when they had seen it prior. The home should be primarily empty for this walk through. Most of the work has been done at this point. Maybe there is some cleaning left to do or maybe a few things in the garage, but ideally you’ve vacated the property and the buyers can get a look at the blank canvas.
Closing - The closing will take place at the office of your escrow agent, title agent, or attorney (depending on your state - in MT we use title companies). Once all paperwork has been signed and funds have been disbursed, the buyer is officially the new owner of the property. You will need to bring the following to closing:
Government Issued Photo ID
Extra keys + garage door openers to the property.
Any outstanding documents you may be instructed to bring by your real estate team (could be completed repair receipts etc.)
Yourself! Unless you are unable to attend closing and are doing a mail out (ask your title officer well in advance if you know this is going to be your situation) or you have a Power of Attorney signing for you.
The 7-10 days before closing is really the buyers lenders time to shine.They are working with their underwriting team to get the buyers final approval, so it can be a little quiet on their side. That is totally normal. Once they receive final approval from the bank, they are ready to schedule closing. The contract date for closing is always a moving target, but we try are best to hit that target best we can!
Once closing is finished (usually plan an hour) and both parties have signed all closing documents, the property should transfer ownership within 24 hours! And your money should be in the bank! Wahoo!!
Congratulations - you just officially sold your home! 🥳
