The homebuying journey · Step 5 of 6
Get to closing
The offer is accepted, but the house is not yours yet. Closing is a coordinated sprint among the lender, title or escrow company, agents, attorneys, and you—and small delays can become expensive ones.
What you’re figuring out
The decisions in this stage
- What underwriting still needs from you
- How title and closing funds move safely
- What to verify before signing and taking possession
Start here
Three useful first reads
The Underwriting Document List—and the Large Deposit You'll Have to Explain
Short answer: pay stubs, W-2s or 1099s, two years of tax returns, two-plus months of bank and investment statements (every single page, not just the summary), a government ID, employment…
WTF Does a Title/Escrow Company Actually Do at Closing?
Somewhere between your offer getting accepted and you standing in a room signing your life savings away, a company you've probably never heard of has been quietly doing two very different…
Closing Day: WTF Actually Happens (And What to Bring So You're Not the Delay)
Closing day is the most anticlimactic hour of the entire homebuying process, and also the one where the most money in your life changes hands at once. In most transactions, it plays out l…
The full stage
All 7 guides
The $275 Million Scam Hiding in Your Closing Inbox (And How to Not Fall For It)
Here's the short version, because this is the one section of this site where you should stop skimming and actually read: before you wire a single dollar of closing funds, call your title/…
Real Estate Attorney vs. Title Company: Do You Actually Need Both?
Short answer: in about a dozen states, you don't get a choice — state law requires a licensed attorney to be involved in your closing, full stop. Everywhere else, a title company alone is…
The House Isn't Yours Yet — So Who's on the Hook When It Gets Wrecked Before Closing?
You did the inspection. You negotiated the repairs. You're two days from closing, mentally decorating a house you don't own yet — and then a pipe bursts, a tree comes through the roof, or…
The Final Walkthrough Is Your Last Move Before You Have Zero Leverage
Here's the part nobody explains clearly: the final walkthrough is not a legal do-over of your inspection, and it is not a contingency that lets you casually back out if you don't love the…
The Underwriting Document List—and the Large Deposit You'll Have to Explain
Short answer: pay stubs, W-2s or 1099s, two years of tax returns, two-plus months of bank and investment statements (every single page, not just the summary), a government ID, employment…
WTF Does a Title/Escrow Company Actually Do at Closing?
Somewhere between your offer getting accepted and you standing in a room signing your life savings away, a company you've probably never heard of has been quietly doing two very different…
Closing Day: WTF Actually Happens (And What to Bring So You're Not the Delay)
Closing day is the most anticlimactic hour of the entire homebuying process, and also the one where the most money in your life changes hands at once. In most transactions, it plays out l…