With the purchase & sale agreement signed and the assent forms trickling in, it was time to prepare for the closing. After completing the paperwork on the sale as depicted in the article Selling the Estate Rental Property: The Purchase & Sale Agreement and Probate, the time was right to complete required tasks for the closing.

The day after finishing the paperwork, the realtor sent me a list called The Seller’s Closing Checklist. The checklist included required tasks needed for the closing and was two pages long. Although the number of tasks seemed large, not all tasks were relevant to this closing. In addition, not all tasks were my responsibility; the realtor offered to complete a task, and a couple of tasks were strictly for the attorney. So, with the tasks organized, completing them should be a straightforward process.

Prepare for the Closing

Once the realtor sent me the checklist, we discussed the tasks. Basically, the discussion entailed forming a final checklist for me to complete. The following tasks were my responsibility:

• In Massachusetts, all homes require smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Each town sets installment requirements and the realtor gave me the requirements for the town of Weymouth. The next day I bought the detectors and installed them.

• Massachusetts also requires a fire inspection before a closing. So, after installing the detectors, I made an appointment with the local fire department to inspect the home and to certify that the detectors met the requirements.

• The oil tank was near empty, so I arranged for an oil delivery.

• The attorney needed to prepare the deed before the closing, so I sent the attorney the original deed.

• Before closing, I had to cut off the utilities at the closing date. The tenants cancelled the phone service and the cable service before they left with my permission. Since no one was living there, the only utilities necessary were the electricity and the heat.  So, two weeks before the close, the oil delivery service added oil to the tank and I cancelled the electricity as of the closing date.

So, the only task that required any real effort was installing the detectors. After, installing the detectors, the list contained just a few phone calls. So, while waiting for the assent forms, using the time to prepare for the closing was a straightforward process.

Ready for the Close

On April 22, 2013 the fire department inspected the house and gave me the certificate needed for the closing. With the other tasks completed, mailing a copy of the fire inspection certificate to the attorney and realtor ended this final task. So, by completing all the tasks, I thought everything was ready for the closing. However, there were two assent forms that haven’t yet arrived. This was starting to concern me with the closing only a week away.

Was this article informative? Can you guess what will happen before the closing in the next article? Share your thoughts or questions in the comment box below.