Why won't they tell me what to bring to closing?

[Anonymous]

I am set to close on my house on Wednesday, April 29th at 4 p.m.  I still need to know what do I have to bring to closing?  I was told earlier in the process that it may be little or nothing that I would have to bring.  The home was purchased for $130,000.  I was approved for the same amount under FHA.  I was given $5,000 for the down payment from this program in my city.  The seller is also paying the closing costs of up to $4,000.  When I received the Good Faith Estimate ealier in the process my closing cost came up to about $4,050 it seemed like I would have to come to the table with about $50.  Can anyone tell me what they think I would have to bring just by giving them these figures.?

[Anonymous]

I didn;t find out exact numbers until closing.  All you can really get is a ballpark until everyone has all their eggs in the same basket and they are ready to close.

[Anonymous]

Mickie's right. You WILL get what's called a HUD-1 statement (which is really just a breakdown of all the costs incurred in the loan and settling). THAT'S where you'll see YOUR bottom line (AKA, how much $$ to bring to the table).

If your LO/title agent is good, you'll have it 24 hours prior to closing. If not (like us), you'll have it 5 MINUTES before closing (literally).

[medicgrrl]

Call the closing agent in the morning and ask if they have received the closing package yet.  I would wait until around 10:30 or so (after they receive their overnight deliveries)  If they have then ask what time you can call back to get your figures.

[Anonymous]

I would call maybe 2 hrs before hand. I was told the night before I would not need tobring anything becasue of seller assist. I never received a call back nor did I call back.

Long story short I had to run out to the bank and get a cashier check. Good thing the banks were still open!

[JJF]

Here is the problem.   It generally takes a mortgage company or bank one month to get your new account entered into the system.  They like to collect as much money as possible at closing.

If your mortage payment is due 1st of every month.  You are actually paying the interest for last month.

If your closing is on say the 31st, then your first mtg payment is not due until next month.

If your closing is on say the 3rd, then you will be required to pay interest from the 3rd to the end of the month at closing.

Everyone always tells you to close at the end of the month.  I never did because I wanted to see my closing documents at least 24 hours before closing.  If you are closing the last day of the month or closing on a Friday afternoon, this may not happen.

Also, as the seller you are going to continue to pay interest on your loan until funds are received at the bank.

If closing occurs Friday afternoon, there is a chance the deed won't be recorded and funds released by the lawyer until Monday which means the earliest the bank gets them is Tuesday.   Closing on a Friday costs the seller almost another week's worth of interest.  

I always close on either a Tuesday or Wednesday either the 2nd or 3rd week of the month.  

One other **bleep**, if I only knew that - I once had a month end closing that had problems, problems with the paperwork, problems with the house, the feel and tone of everything was not good.  I went to the apartment manager and asked if my apartment had been re-rented.  I was closing on Friday, moving Saturday, turning the keys in on Sunday, apartment was being cleaned and painted on Monday and new tenant was moving in Tuesday.  I was told that I had to move as a new tenant was moving in.  I later found out that I could have stayed and forced the apt manager to evict me, but often they don't they just put the new tenant in another vacant apartment.

Closing Tuesday or Wednesday people are in town, people are at the offices, realtors, mortgage brokers, closing attorneys are available to help.  Closing Friday afternoon at 4:30 and things don't go well, you may not be able to find the people who could help you if you could find them.

[DallasLoanGuy]

Loan officer should be able to estimate within $100 or so.

Hard to be exact as they are only estimating the fees by title company(for example).

DEMAND a HUD-1 before you go to closing.... tell your loan officer that you WILL NOT go to closing to see a HUD-1 for the first time.

Now, as I type this.... it has happened that I have not been able to provide a HUD-1 24hrs before closing..... But my estimates are always close.

Actually, I estimate a few bucks high.

What is YOUR loan officer doing? Guessing? Not guessing?