8 Things to do Before Closing on a House

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We are just about to close on our new house and we've come across many things that should be completed before closing.

Here are 8 things to do before closing on a house: ;

Get your New Mortgage Ready. ; After you've shopped around for the best rate, meet with your mortgage rep to sign off on the papers and to determine your payment details. ;
Prepare for the Lawyer. ; Call your lawyer to make an appointment for closing day. ; Get the lawyer to run through the numbers with you again so that you know exactly how much you should bring for your down payment/lawyers/closing fees.
Prepare your Down Payment Funds. If you have your down payment funds in a high interest savings account, make sure that it's accessible for a bank draft to be submitted to the lawyer. ; Since I use PC Financial, I have to wait 1 day for my funds to be transferred over. ; If your savings account has this type of transfer delay, make sure you account for this.
Get the Utilities Ready. ; Call the Cable/Telephone/Security company a week before closing to setup TV/Internet/Phone/Alarm. ; Sometimes the cable company will have to run new wires into your house which can be delayed if the installers are busy. ; If you call them early, they can hopefully show up and do the install near closing.
Get your New Furniture/Appliances ready. ; If you purchased new appliances/furniture arrange for the store to deliver the packages on (or just after) closing day.
Get Home Insurance. ; Some mortgages (if not all) require that you have home insurance. ; Call around a few weeks before closing to see who has the best rates and coverage. ; If you are a professional, no one can beat Meloche Monnex (that I've found).
Get Life Insurance. ; With my first house, I simply signed on with the mortgage life insurance because it was cheap and required no qualification. ; However, if I did more research, I should have realized that the benefits decrease while the premiums/payments remain the same. ; Do yourself a favour and get term life insurance instead.
Prepare for the Move. ; If you are hiring movers, call them a couple weeks in advance to book your time. ; If you are moving yourself, call the truck rental place (and your strong buddies) at least a week in advance.