What do you know?

What is settlement, anyway?

The Settlement Process Is the Final One Before Owning
Get Ready to Be an Owner!

By the time you reach settlement, your loan is approved and your contract is signed. The process of purchasing a home is an exercise in delayed gratification. In order to get a mortgage loan, you had to cough up tons of personal documents and expose your finances in excruciating detail. You had to survive the agony of contract negotiations with the seller and arrived at a price. So, now it's time to simply sign the dotted line and finally move in, right? Not yet!

Settlement is just one more important step before you get the keys to your new home. It's the last meeting between you and the seller, chaperoned by an attorney or settlement agent, when you sign your loan papers and take official ownership of the property.

Hard on the Nerves
So keep your head.

Closing on a home can be a little nerve wracking-it's easy to wonder what might go wrong at the last minute. But there's no reason to worry, especially if you arm yourself with the right information beforehand. You need to know what closing costs are, what to expect, and how the whole settlement process works. You'll feel better with a clear understanding of where the money's going and what services you're buying with it. Most of all, you'll be able to cut your closing costs.

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