You’ve found the house, and you’ve arranged for financing. There’s only one thing left to do: the closing. The closing is where you sign all the paperwork, take legal possession of the property, and become indebted to your mortgage. It all becomes official at the closing. Be prepared to fork over some money, and to sign a lot of paperwork. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Before the Closing

Set the date. Usually the real-estate agent will take care of arranging a time that suits you, the seller, your lender, and the closing agent. The closing must be before the expiration of your lender’s commitment letter and rate lock-in, if you have one.

Choose a closing (or settlement) agent. You may have some say about who is selected. If so, shopping around to find out about fees may save you money.

Meet conditions. Check your commitment letter from your lender. Does it mention any conditions to the loan offer, such as bringing the house up to the building code or addressing zoning questions? Find out whether any conditions must be met before closing.

Get homeowner's insurance. Shop around and compare insurance companies. You'll need to bring with you to the closing the insurance policy and a paid receipt for the first year's premium.

Take one more tour of your new house. Make sure everything is as you expect it to be. Have repairs you asked for been completed to your satisfaction? If you find any problems, you have the right to delay the closing until these are corrected.

Lender Preparations

Your lender will:

• Obtain a title search to be sure the title to the home is clear. The title search verifies that the seller is the owner and also turns up any liens (legal claims) against the property, such as an IRS lien for taxes owed or a contractor's lien for unpaid bills. The seller must pay any such claims before or at closing.

• Obtain title insurance before closing. This protects both the lender and you, the buyer, in case any flaw in the title turns up after closing.

• Sometimes get a survey of the property before closing, to make sure the property's boundaries are correctly described on the purchase-and-sale agreement.

You will pay the costs of the title search, title insurance, and survey as part of the closing costs.

Closing Day

At last, it’s closing day. You will finally, officially become a homeowner. You’ll need to bring some things with you to the closing:

• Evidence that you have obtained homeowner's insurance.
• A picture identification for yourself and anyone else whose name will be on the deed
• Information about any transfers of property or prorations (such as for utility bills) between you and the seller. Often the real estate professional will take care of this. Just be sure someone has attended to it before your closing day.
• Money. You may need to bring a certified or cashier's check, rather than a personal check, to pay closing costs. By law, closing costs can't be a surprise to the buyer on closing day. Your lender must give you a written estimate of closing costs within three days of accepting your mortgage application. You should have an exact figure by one business day before closing.

Remember, all told, you can expect closing costs to amount to 3 percent to 6 percent of the mortgage amount. And, like the down payment, closing costs are due in full on the day of closing; they are not part of the mortgage amount. This calculator will help you estimate what your closing costs will be.