Residential purchase closing checklist

What are the steps, in order?

1. Open the file and read the contract before signing it. Retain counsel and have the contract of sale and its rider reviewed before you sign anything. The contract fixes the survival clause, who cures an open violation, and what happens if the closing date slips, and none of those terms are easy to renegotiate afterward.Before contract
2. Set the mortgage and inspection contingency dates in writing. The mortgage contingency date and the inspection window are calendar dates in the rider, not customs. Confirm both against your lender’s realistic underwriting time rather than an optimistic one, because a lapsed contingency puts the down payment at risk.At contract
3. Pull the violation and permit record before the contract is executed. Search DOB, OATH (formerly ECB) and HPD against the address while you still have leverage. Before signing, an open violation is a term of the deal. After signing, it is a dispute you are having with a mortgage commitment expiring behind you.Before contract
4. Order the title report and the municipal searches. Order the title report and the full municipal search package as soon as the contract is fully executed, not when the lender asks. The exceptions that surface in the report set the real schedule for the rest of the file.Week 1 after contract
5. Read Schedule B and object to the curable exceptions. Schedule B lists what the policy will not cover. Go through it line by line, object within the contract’s title objection window, and separate the items the seller must clear from the ones you will accept or insure over.Weeks 2 to 4
6. Order the survey or a survey reading. A survey reading updates an existing survey against the current record. Where no usable survey exists, order a new one early, because a fence, a deck or a garage over a line takes weeks to resolve and is the classic late surprise on a one to four family purchase.Weeks 2 to 4
7. Track the loan to the clear to close. Appraisal, underwriting, commitment letter, conditions, then clear to close. Lender conditions frequently reach back into the violation record and the survey, so give the lender the title report rather than waiting to be asked for it.Weeks 2 to 6
8. Review the Closing Disclosure against the settlement statement. The Closing Disclosure has to be in your hands at least three business days before you sign. Reconcile it line by line against the settlement statement and the payoff figures, and raise a discrepancy before closing day, not at the table.3 to 7 days before closing
9. Verify the wire instructions by telephone using a number you already had. Call the office you are wiring to at a number you obtained independently and read the account details back. Wire instructions that arrive by email, or that change at the last minute, are the single most common way a New York closing loses its funds.Day before closing
10. Walk through the property before you go to the table. Do the final walk-through the morning of closing, with the contract’s condition and included-fixtures list in hand. Anything unresolved is negotiated as a credit or an escrow before the deed is delivered, and effectively never after.Closing day
11. Confirm the deed and mortgage actually recorded. Recording is not instant in New York City. Check ACRIS for the recorded deed and mortgage, confirm the transfer tax returns were accepted, and keep the recorded instruments and the policy with the closing binder.Weeks after closing

Which documents do you need?

• Contract of sale with rider, fully executed, and proof the down payment is in escrow
• Bargain and sale deed with covenant against grantor’s acts, executed and notarized
• Affidavit of title from the seller
• TP-584, the combined New York State transfer tax return, including the mansion tax schedule where the price reaches the statutory threshold
• RP-5217NYC real property transfer report
• NYC real property transfer tax return
• Closing Disclosure delivered at least three business days before signing
• Settlement statement reconciled against the Closing Disclosure
• Note, mortgage and the lender’s complete loan package
• Owner’s policy and lender’s policy, issued simultaneously
• Smoke and carbon monoxide detector affidavit
• Two forms of photo identification for every person signing
• Homeowner’s insurance binder naming the lender as mortgagee

Which searches does this transaction call for?

• Title search through the chain of title, read against the abstract or the seller’s prior policy
• Judgment, bankruptcy and federal tax lien searches against every buyer and seller name and known variant
• Patriot search against all parties
• Tax search for open real property taxes, assessments and any tax lien sale
• DOB and OATH (formerly ECB) violation search against the premises
• HPD violation and registration search where the building is a multiple dwelling
• DEP water and sewer search
• Fire, emergency repair, sidewalk and street vault searches
• Survey reading, or a new survey where none is usable
• Open permit search, including permits pulled by a prior owner

What else should you read before closing?