Get Your Down Payment Ready

Now that we’re getting closer to your closing date, it’s time to get your down payment and closing costs ready!  

If any of these funds are going to be gifted to you from a family member, you need to let your mortgage lender know right away so he or she can get approval from the underwriter for the funds.

It’s best if the down payment and closing cost funds are transferred into one account.  This account must be disclosed to your mortgage lender and you must let him or her know this is the account you’re going to be using for the down payment as the funds have to be tracked.

1-3 business day before your closing date, your mortgage lender or title company will email you a close estimate of the amount of money needed to close as well as the wire transfer instructions.  Unfortunately, the total amount usually is not available farther in advance as the title company needs to receive final figures from both your lender (if utilizing a mortgage) as well as conveyancers. Amounts under $50,000 can be paid for with a cashier’s check, however, amounts over $50,000 must be wire transferred. You’ll wire transfer these funds in one lump payment the ONE TO TWO DAYS BEFORE CLOSING.  If you have a Monday settlement I recommend wiring the money the Thursday prior as Friday wires are more likely to be a victim of fraud. It is crucial that these funds be wire transferred the day before closing at the latest as the Title company cannot accept it the day of closing.

While it would be nice to wire transfer the funds several days in advance, often the title company doesn’t have the exact figures until the one to three days before settlement.  Therefore, call your bank now and find out what you need to do to make a wire transfer. Most of the time you have to go into the bank personally to initiate the wire transfer.  Also, find out what their cut off time is for wire transfers. Usually it’s around 4pm.  That means you’ll have to do the wire transfer by that time the day before closing in order for it to go into the title company’s account on time. Please call the Title company directly to verify you are using the correct wiring instructions. You should only receive the instructions once. Once you’ve completed the wire transfer, email myself and mortgage lender so we can make sure the title company received the funds.

Lastly, explain to your work that you need to leave for a little while the day before closing in order to initiate the wire transfer and make sure that is OK with them.

At closing, any overage/extra money you paid will be refunded back to you at the very end of the closing via a check.

PLEASE NOTE: There have been a number of hackers and scammers lately trying to divert (ie. steal) closing funds to their personal accounts and away from the title companies. Generally, the wire transfer instructions will be emailed to you from the Title Company. DO NOT FOLLOW WIRE TRANSFER INSTRUCTIONS SENT FROM ANYONE ELSE.  If you want to verify that the wire transfer instructions you received are legitimate, call the title company and they can verify them with you via phone.