Before closing (the week ahead)

  • ☐ Review your Closing Disclosure. If you have a mortgage, it arrives at least three business days before closing. Compare it to your Loan Estimate and ask about anything that changed.
  • ☐ Verify wire instructions by phone — before sending anything. Our wire instructions will not change during your transaction. Call us at the number listed on our website — not a number from an email — and confirm the details out loud. Treat any last-minute "update" as fraud until confirmed by phone.
  • ☐ Wire your cash to close a day early. Funds should be confirmed received before you sit down to sign.
  • ☐ Bind homeowner's insurance effective on closing day, and get the binder and paid receipt to your lender. No insurance, no funding.
  • ☐ Set up utility transfers — power, water, gas, internet — effective on your possession date.
  • ☐ Do the final walkthrough, ideally within 24 hours of closing. Confirm agreed repairs are done and the home is in the promised condition. Bring your notes.
  • ☐ Clear any last lender conditions — updated pay stubs, letters of explanation — the same day they're requested.
  • ☐ Hold still financially. No new credit, no big purchases, no job changes, no large unexplained deposits until after you have the keys.

Day of closing

  • ☐ Government-issued photo ID (driver's license or passport) — the name should match your loan documents.
  • ☐ Confirmation your wire arrived (or a cashier's check, if that's what your instructions call for).
  • ☐ Your Closing Disclosure and walkthrough notes, so you can compare figures at the table.
  • ☐ Your questions. The closer walks the settlement statement line by line — you should understand every document before you sign it.
  • ☐ Time. Plan on about an hour. Rushed closings are how mistakes happen.

After closing

  • ☐ Confirm recording. The deed (and deed of trust, if you financed) is recorded with the Chancery Clerk in the county where the property sits. Ask us when it posts.
  • ☐ Watch for your owner's title policy. It's issued after recording — often a few weeks after closing. It's yours for as long as you own the property.
  • ☐ File for homestead exemption if you own and occupy the home on January 1. Apply at the county tax assessor's office between January 1 and April 1. Closing in late December? Your deed must be recorded by January 7 to count for that year.
  • ☐ Store your documents permanently: recorded deed, owner's title policy, settlement statement, and loan package. A fireproof box or scanned copies in secure storage — ideally both.
  • ☐ Set reminders for taxes and insurance if your loan doesn't escrow them.

If you're the seller

  • ☐ Order payoffs well before closing for every mortgage, HELOC, and lien. HELOCs take the longest.
  • ☐ Finish agreed repairs well before closing, and gather the receipts and warranties to hand over.
  • ☐ Photo ID.
  • ☐ Keys, garage remotes, gate and alarm codes, mailbox keys, HOA fobs.
  • ☐ Forwarding address and tax ID for 1099-S reporting.

Maples Richey · 801 Baptist Drive, Suite 203, Madison, MS 39110 · 601-707-4114 · [email protected] · Mon–Fri 9:00–4:30 © Maples & Richey, PLLC. This guide is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.