From SOLD to Moving In
You can remove subjects once you are satisfied with your research and your financing is approved. When this happens, you have legally bought a home and cannot back out without major recourse. Congrats! If you haven’t already paid your deposit, make sure to do so via the instructions you get from your realtor, and if you want more information on deposit vs down payment, please refer to this blog post.
Once you have that signed contract, you should forward it to your mortgage broker and lawyer, so they know the important dates and can work with them. Your broker will let you know when you should meet to go over everything and sign, and then they will send your mortgage instructions to the lawyer- so you will need to give them that contact information as well.
Your lawyer will schedule an appointment a week to a few days before your closing date to review all the paperwork and your final bill, which will include their fee, the remainder of any down payment, and your half of the rest of the upcoming year’s house fees - property taxes etc.
After signing and sorting the above, you are just waiting for the keys! Well, and probably doing some packing. We have created a great moving checklist. Just send us an email, and we will get it to you.
Most times, your completion date and possession date will be different, and for good reason. It allows more time for all of the paperwork to go through (mortgage, title and lawyer). You will get your keys once it is official and based on the contract's preset and agreed time. And while there is always a chance you can get them early, there is a chance you could get them late, so please don’t book your moving truck or contractor for the time you are supposed to get your keys. It is always wise to book everything for the following day to give yourself a buffer.
Your realtor will give you the keys now that the time is finally here. They will likely meet you at your new house and conduct a walk-through. This is important because you want to ensure all contract terms have been met. Checking that they left extra keys, the mail key, the garage door remote, appliance manuals and anything else that should have been left - curtains etc. Also, if they were meant to remove anything, you wouldn’t want to be stuck paying to haul it away. If they forgot to take or include something, your realtor would act on your behalf immediately to rectify it. This does happen as the previous sellers may have forgotten in the chaos of their move.
If you do not do the walkthrough, move everything in, and take a few days to reach out - it would be hard to identify if any change, damage, or complaint resulted from the seller or yourself during the process. As they say, time is always of the essence.
Once you have moved in and are all sorted and settled - put your feet up and enjoy your new home. If you had a pleasant experience with any people who helped you along the way, let them know, write them a testimonial, or refer a friend - these things are gold in this industry. Even better, if you have used a realtor you loved, let us know so we can add them to our roster.
Our work doesn’t stop after you have moved in. We conduct an annual review of your mortgage to identify if there are any opportunities for you, and we are always available for your questions and needs.