For buyers and sellers
What happens at your closing appointment
Your closing appointment is a signing. By the time you sit down, the money and the paperwork have already been arranged; what is left is for you to read and sign documents, present photo identification, and have your signature notarised where required.
Plan for about an hour if you are a buyer with a mortgage, and less if you are a seller or paying cash. Bring an unexpired government-issued photo ID. Send your funds by wire in advance — not on the day — and verify the wire instructions by phone before you send anything.
That is the whole appointment. The rest of this page is what leads up to it, what you will actually be signing, and what happens in the hours afterwards.
Before the day
Most of a closing happens before the appointment, and none of it is visible to you unless something goes wrong. Broadly:
The title search and commitment. We search the public record for everything recorded against the property and issue a title commitment — the document that says what we will insure and on what terms. You should read the exceptions listed in it. They are the property-specific part. See what title insurance protects you from.
Curative work. Anything the search turns up that has to be cleared — an unreleased lien, a name mismatch, an old judgment, a missing signature — gets worked before closing. This is where the time goes on a difficult file.
Payoff figures. If the seller has a mortgage, we order a payoff statement good through the expected closing date.
Lender documents. If you are borrowing, your loan closes here too. Your lender sends the loan package, and the appointment cannot be finalised until it arrives.
Your Closing Disclosure. Borrowers receive a Closing Disclosure from the lender before closing, itemising the loan's costs. Read it against the settlement statement. They should tell the same story, and if they do not, ask before you sign rather than after.
Scheduling. Your escrow officer confirms the appointment, the amount you need to bring, and how to send it.
What to bring
- An unexpired, government-issued photo ID for every person signing. A driver licence or a passport. This is a notarisation requirement, not a formality, and an expired ID can stop a closing on the day.
- A second form of identification, if your escrow officer asked for one.
- Your funds already sent, or a cashier's check if that is what was agreed. Personal checks are generally not accepted for closing funds.
- Anything specific your escrow officer requested — a trust document, a power of attorney, an entity resolution, a divorce decree. These have to be approved in advance, not produced at the table.
- Your spouse, if applicable. In some situations a spouse must sign even when they are not on the loan or on title. Your escrow officer will tell you in advance if that applies.
If you are signing under a power of attorney, or on behalf of a trust or a company, tell your escrow officer early. These need review and sometimes lender approval, and they are the most common cause of a signing that has to be rescheduled.
Sending your money safely
Closing funds are normally sent by wire transfer, and they need to arrive and clear before closing can disburse — which in practice means a day or two ahead of the appointment, not on the morning.
Verify wire instructions by phone, every time, before you send anything. Call a number you already have for your escrow officer — one from an earlier document or from this website — and read the account details back to them.
Do not use a phone number that came in the same email as the instructions. Do not act on emailed changes to wire instructions. Wire instructions for a closing do not change at the last minute; a message saying they have is the single most common form this fraud takes, and it is convincing.
If you have any doubt at all, stop and call us on +1 (801) 266-0606.
Signings that need advance notice
Most closings are two people, two IDs and a stack of paper. The ones that go wrong on the day are almost always the ones where something unusual about who is signing surfaced too late. If any of these apply to you, tell your escrow officer as early as you can — at contract, ideally, not the week of closing.
Someone is signing under a power of attorney. The document has to be reviewed and, on a financed purchase, approved by the lender. A power of attorney that is fine for one purpose is not automatically acceptable for a real estate closing.
The property is held in a trust, or is going into one. We will need to see the trust documentation to confirm who has authority to sign.
A company, partnership or LLC is on title. Expect to provide organisational documents and evidence of who is authorised to sign for the entity.
A signer is out of state, overseas, deployed or in hospital. There are ways to handle each of these, and all of them take more lead time than a normal signing.
There has been a death or a divorce since the property was acquired. Title may need to be cleared before it can be transferred, which is curative work rather than paperwork.
A signer does not have current government-issued photo identification. Notarisation depends on it. This cannot be solved at the table.
None of these is unusual and none is a problem when it is known about early. Every one of them is a rescheduled closing when it is discovered on the day.
Who is in the room
Fewer people than most first-time buyers expect.
- You, and anyone else who will be on title or on the loan.
- Your escrow or closing officer, who conducts the signing, explains each document and notarises what needs notarising.
- Your real estate agent, often, though not always, and not required.
- Your loan officer, occasionally.
The buyer and the seller frequently do not sign at the same time or in the same place. Sellers often sign earlier, and a seller who has already moved may sign remotely. If you were expecting to meet the other party, ask beforehand rather than assuming.
What you sign as a buyer
If you are financing, most of the stack is the lender's, not ours. The pieces that matter:
The promissory note. Your promise to repay the loan. Amount, rate, term, payment.
The deed of trust. The document that secures the loan against the property and gets recorded. This is what gives the lender the right to foreclose if the note is not paid.
The settlement statement. Every dollar in and out of the transaction, on one page. Check the sale price, your loan amount, the prorations and your final cash-to-close figure.
Loan disclosures and affidavits. Occupancy, identity, compliance, acknowledgements. Mostly short, mostly standard.
Read the note, the deed of trust and the settlement statement carefully even if you skim the rest. Your escrow officer can explain any of them, and this is the moment to ask — a question at the table is normal, and a question afterwards is much harder to act on.
What you sign as a seller
A seller's stack is much shorter, usually twenty to thirty minutes.
The deed. The document conveying the property to the buyer. Check the spelling of your name and the legal description.
The settlement statement. Your side of the money: sale price, payoff, commission, prorations, and your net proceeds.
Payoff and lien release paperwork, where needed.
Affidavits and disclosures — identity, non-foreign status, and anything the particular transaction requires.
The one thing worth deciding in advance is how you want your proceeds. Wire or check, and to which account. Bring the account details; do not plan to email them.
Funding, recording and keys
Signing is not the end. Three things still have to happen, usually in this order:
- Funding. The lender reviews the signed package and releases the loan funds to escrow.
- Disbursement and recording. Escrow pays off the old loan, pays the commissions and the other charges, and the deed and the new trust deed are recorded with the county.
- Confirmation. Once recording is confirmed, the transaction is complete.
Depending on the timing of the signing and when the lender funds, this can finish the same day or run into the next business day. When keys change hands is a term of your contract, not a rule the title company applies, so check the contract and confirm with your agent.
Your seller proceeds go out as part of disbursement. A wire generally arrives the same business day it is sent; a check has to be collected or posted.
If something is wrong on the day
Say so before you sign. A number that does not match, a name spelled wrong, a document you do not understand — all of it is far easier to fix while you are sitting there.
A name or legal description error is usually a quick correction.
A figure that does not match your Closing Disclosure should be reconciled before you continue. That is what the two documents are for.
A document you do not understand is a question, not an obstacle. Ask your escrow officer to explain it. If it is a legal question about your own position rather than a question about what the document is, that is a conversation for your own attorney.
Nobody at a closing table benefits from you signing something you do not understand.
Questions we get asked
How long does it take?
Plan for about an hour as a financed buyer, twenty to thirty minutes as a seller or a cash buyer. Arriving with your ID and your funds already sent is what keeps it short.
Can I sign remotely, or somewhere else?
Sometimes, depending on the transaction and the lender. Ask your escrow officer early rather than assuming either way.
Can I bring someone with me?
Yes. People often bring a spouse, a family member or their agent.
Do buyer and seller sign together?
Often not. It varies by file and it is not a problem.
What if I cannot make the appointment?
Tell your escrow officer as soon as you know. Rescheduling is routine; missing it without warning can affect the funding and recording timeline for everyone else on the file.
Who do I call afterwards with a question?
Your escrow officer. You can also reach our office on +1 (801) 266-0606, and the escrow team page lists officers directly.
Closing with us and want to know exactly what your appointment looks like? Get in touch and we will walk you through it before the day.