This is one of those things where I always thought that by the time I buy a house I’m going to be this incredibly responsible super person that never pays late fees or does things at the last minute.
Unfortunately, I have not yet transformed into that person.
Today I had the seemingly simple task of “getting the things together that we need at closing.” Sounds easy enough, right? But, from experience, I know that things that seem easy can have a whole bunch of problems, so I decided to get started as soon as I got the final numbers from our agent. That was this morning.
Here are the things you need at closing:
1) ID, like driver’s license
2) Balance Due From Buyer/Borrower
3) Bottle of Champagne (or is that only in the movies?)
Here’s the skinny on your options: You can either pay your balance due (meaning your down payment and your closing costs) by wiring the money or with a cashier’s check.
If you are wiring the money, the Title Company advises that you wire it the night before you close. That way, it will be in their account by the time you close.
Sometimes Customer Service is like a Magic 8 Ball, I ask the same question and get a new answer.
So, I decided to wire the money. My advice to you is, don’t listen to your banker if they tell you that it can easily be done online, at home. If it can be done online, it is certainly not easy. I passed through the hurdles of getting passwords emailed and texted, verifying my identity and having my retina scanned (just kidding), only to be shut down at the last step. “Daily wire transfer limit exceeded.”
If you ask three different bank employees “what is the maximum wire transfer I can make online?” you will get three very different answers. Ironically, if you point this out to each of them, you will get the same answer every time.
Bottom line is, I’m in the middle of changing my name so I don’t technically have a valid ID. I never got the online wire transfer to work, even though I did speak to three different bank employees and a manager. This is when the mission impossible music starts kicking in.
My advice to you is, don’t try to change your name at the same time you are trying to buy a house. You might end up having to go to the DMV, the bank and the closing meeting all in one day. Who would be crazy enough to do that??
