Cheers to Closing

As a loan officer, I like to attend as many of my closings as I can. I don’t really have a function there other than answering any questions that come up, or sometimes helping to explain a document or process. Most of our work now is over email and phone calls, so often this is my first opportunity to meet my clients in person. It’s also a good way to catch up with a real estate agent or closer.

The closing is often a celebratory time.

Frankly, assembling all the documents for the mortgage, choosing a loan program, and answering questions from an underwriter is dry at best and sometimes unpleasant for some people. At the closing, the focus and excitement can be on the new house.

Many folks like to celebrate with a drink.

How this goes depends on your title company. Some title agents will remind everyone that this is in fact a legal process and no corks can be popped until everyone has finished signing their documents, lest someone claim a document might be invalid because it was signed under the influence. Other title agents will join in and tip a glass along with everyone else.

Don’t drink and sign.

One time we did have a closing where the drinking was not celebratory. I wasn’t able to attend, but I received a phone call from the title agent explaining that the gentleman who was scheduled to sign at 4:00 was now scheduled for 9:00 the next morning. He was signing the house over to his ex-wife, and when the closer asked if he was ready to sign he replied, “I am now since I just came from bar after lunch.” The closer definitely didn’t want to jeopardize the legality of the final part of their divorce, so she let him know he needed to be completely sober for that 9:00 am signing.

So, if you want to raise a toast at your closing just let me know so I can show up with something appropriate. However, we’ll pop the cork after the signing is complete.