Please take the time to review and discuss with your legal counsel all of the Estimated Closing Costs and Registry of Deeds Recording Fees. Please review my Moving Tips  with various recommendations and suggestions for moving companies, on-line transfer of your utilities and much more. If you are also selling a home you might want to review the Sellers Closing Information. Please feel free to call me to discuss any of these matters in detail!

Prior to your scheduled closing date, I will retrieve and submit the following documents for the closing: the 6D Certificate (a notarized document verifying that all condominium fees and any and all special assessments in the condominium association are up to date for the month of the closing), the Condominium Association's Master Insurance Policy Certificate naming your lien holder, and the City of Boston Fire Department Smoke/Carbon Detector Certificate; all of these documents are required by state statute to record this transaction at your registry of deeds. I will make certain all of these documents are delivered to your lender's closing attorney.

The week just prior to the closing is when your mortgage company's underwriter actually prepares all the documents, verifies the accuracy of the HUD Statement commonly known as the closing or settlement statement, reviews the deed and actually funds the closing. If this is a cash deal the seller's legal counsel will prepare the closing documents. Either way, I will continue to be in touch regularly throughout the entire transaction in an effort to monitor the process and to generally assure the process proceeds smoothly and ultimately closes without incident. However, from here on in the mortgage company is in the driver's seat!

Call your attorney about a week before closing to schedule the actual closing date, time and location in an effort to avoid any problems with your schedule. If you are not going to attend the closing, have your attorney prepare "Power of Attorney" as well as a wire transfer which will save you time and aggravation...these steps must be done well in advance! You will need certified funds for the actual closing. The closing usually takes place at your lender's attorney's office or the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds near Government Center and is usually about 1-2 hours depending upon the transaction. Don't forget your driver's license, state issued photo identification or passport and certified funds.

About three (3) days prior to the closing, you should request a copy of the HUD Statement. Unfortunately, your lender's attorney's will usually not have this prepared until about 48 hours or less prior to the closing. The HUD statement will document the transaction in detail and will inform you of the total amount due at the closing. If you have any questions in regards to the HUD statement, please call your attorney immediately! Please call me once you have the exact closing date, time and location so that I may schedule a walk through of your new home just hours prior to the actual closing time. I will have all the keys for you at the closing i.e. building, unit, garage, mail box, storage etc.

Your lender requires that you secure "Home Owner's Insurance" for your "unit", in addition to the master insurance policy which is paid by your condominium fee. The experiences of most of my clients have shown that it has been advantageous to be insured by the same insurance carrier that covers the condominium association in an effort to avoid any discrepancies in the actual coverage. More importantly, it has proven to be less time consuming and frustrating in the unfortunate event of a loss or damage to the property. I will research the contact information for the condominium association's insurance carrier if you email: Rich@RichHaen.com or call my cell at (617) 283-5044. The following is a list of local insurance agencies I am comfortable recommending...please feel free to request references:

Please note that www.Richhaen.com nor it's agents assume any responsibility for the services of the aforementioned parties. This list is simply a matter of courtesy, consult your yellow pages for additional companies. We strongly suggest that you contact the Better Business Bureau @ 617 426-9000 or write The BBB @ 20 Park Plaza, Suite 820, Boston MA 02116-4404 (www.bbb.org).