What to expect at closing, and what to bring.
Most of a closing is signing, and most of it is uneventful. The parts that go wrong are almost always the parts nobody checked the week before: an expired driver's license, funds sent to an account from an email, one set of keys instead of three. Here is the whole day, and a list you can print and stick on the refrigerator.
What to bring
If you read one part of this page, read this part. Everything here has stopped a closing at some point, and every item is fixable in advance.
Everyone who signs
Buyers, sellers, co-owners, co-borrowers
- A current government-issued photo ID — driver's license, passport, or Pennsylvania photo ID. Not expired. Documents are notarized at the table, and the notary has to verify who you are; an expired ID stops a closing cold.
- A name that matches. The name on your ID should match the name going on the deed or the loan. If you have married, divorced, or changed your name since the last recorded document, tell us before closing week, not on the day.
- A second form of ID if you have one. Some lenders ask for it. It costs you nothing to have a passport or a Social Security card in the folder.
- Signing under a power of attorney? The original POA has to be reviewed and approved by us and by the lender in advance, and the original comes to the table. A POA handed over for the first time at closing does not work.
- Buying or selling as an entity or an estate? Operating agreement, trust instrument, corporate resolution, or letters testamentary, whichever applies. Send these when the file opens; we will tell you exactly which ones we need.
Buyers bring
Money, insurance, paperwork
- Your funds, in the exact amount and form we confirm with you — a wire sent after a verbal callback, or certified funds. Never send money on an emailed instruction you have not confirmed by phone. The one rule about money →
- Proof of homeowner's insurance, if your lender has not already collected it: the declarations page and the receipt showing the first year is paid.
- Anything your lender asked you to bring. Their list is their own, and ours does not replace it.
- A personal checkbook. Not for the closing funds, but final figures occasionally move by a few dollars at the table and a small check closes the gap.
Sellers bring
Keys, codes, and the paperwork nobody thinks about
- Every key. House, storm door, garage side door, shed, gate, pool, mailbox. Buyers notice the ones that are missing that evening.
- Garage door remotes and keypad codes, alarm codes, and the name of the alarm company.
- Appliance manuals and warranty paperwork, including anything still under warranty on the roof, the HVAC, or a radon mitigation system.
- A voided check if you want your proceeds wired rather than handed to you as a check at the table.
- A forwarding address for the tax, utility, and escrow-refund mail that follows you for a month or two.
- Nothing for the payoff — we order it. But tell us about any second mortgage, home-equity line, or judgment you know of, so it is not a discovery on closing day.
How the money moves
You get your final numbers before you come, not at the table. If a figure changes between then and closing, you hear it from us by phone.
- We tell you the exact amount and how to send it. Whether a wire or a cashier's check is right depends on the amount and your bank's cutoff time, and we will tell you which, and by when it has to leave.
- Verify by phone before you wire — every time. Use a number from this website or your title commitment, never a number in an email. We will never change wire instructions by email.
- Sellers know in advance how proceeds come: a check at the table or a wire to the account on your voided check.
- Settlement funds sit in a separate fiduciary account and are reconciled daily. Large wires go out under dual authorization.
The full closing-safety page, including the free county deed-fraud alerts →
What actually happens at the table
- IdentificationWe check IDs for everyone signing and confirm names against the deed and the loan documents.
- The settlement statementWe walk through the numbers line by line — credits, prorations, payoffs, taxes, and what you are bringing or taking away — before anything is signed.
- The lender's packageBuyers with a mortgage sign the note, the mortgage, and the affidavits and disclosures behind them. This is the bulk of the signing.
- The deedSellers sign and acknowledge the deed transferring the property. Once it is signed, the seller's part of the day is largely done.
- Funding and disbursementWe confirm the funds are in, then disburse: payoffs, transfer tax, commissions, and seller proceeds.
- KeysOn most purchases out here, keys change hands at disbursement, which is usually the same day you sign.
- RecordingWe record the deed and mortgage with the county. The original deed comes back to you from the Recorder weeks later, by mail.
A purchase with a mortgage usually runs about an hour. A cash purchase or a seller-only signing is often 20 to 30 minutes. Leave the full hour free anyway — a closing rushed to make a 3:00 appointment is how things get signed that should have been questions.
After you sign
- Refinancing a primary residence? Most of those loans carry a three-business-day right to cancel under federal law. Where it applies, nothing disburses and no payoff goes out until that window closes, so a Monday signing typically funds later that week. Saturdays count toward the three days; Sundays and federal holidays do not. We will tell you whether it applies to your loan and what the funding date is.
- The deed comes later. The original returns from the county Recorder weeks after closing, not at the table. Your copies are in the packet you take home.
- Your owner's policy is issued after the file is recorded and settled. Keep it with the deed. It does not expire while you own the property, and it is what you call us about years from now if somebody surfaces with a claim.
- Sign up for your county's free deed-fraud alert. Every county we serve offers one, and it emails you when a document is recorded against your name. Five minutes, no cost. Sign-up links →
- Throw away the "property records" mail. Within weeks you will get official-looking letters, often with a Harrisburg return address, selling you a copy of your deed for $90 to $110. The Recorder charges a few dollars and we provide copies free.
The small things that delay closings
None of these are dramatic. All of them have pushed a settlement.
- An expired driver's license, discovered at the table.
- A name on the ID that does not match the name on the deed, with no documentation of the change.
- A power of attorney nobody sent us or the lender to approve.
- Funds wired to an account taken from an email rather than confirmed by phone — the one item on this list that is not merely a delay.
- A missing homeowner's insurance declarations page, which a lender will not fund without.
- One set of house keys for a two-adult household.
- A home-equity line paid down to zero but never closed. The line stays open, so the lien does not release. Closing it takes a written request to the bank and a little time — so tell us early.
- An estate or entity seller whose authority documents arrive the week of closing instead of the week the file opened.
Closing day questions
Can I bring a personal check to closing?
Not for the closing funds. Those come by wire or certified funds. Bring a personal checkbook anyway for small last-minute differences, which do occasionally show up at the table.
Do both spouses have to come?
Everyone going on the deed signs the deed, and everyone going on the loan signs the loan. If you are married and only one of you will be on title, tell us early so we can confirm with your lender who needs to sign before the day arrives.
What if I can't be there in person?
Tell us as early as you can. Depending on the file and the lender, the options include signing in advance, a mail-away package, or a properly drafted power of attorney approved by us and the lender before closing day. A power of attorney presented for the first time at the table will not work.
When do I get the keys?
On most Western Pennsylvania purchases, keys change hands once the file funds and disburses, which is typically the same day you sign. If your lender funds the following business day, you will know that before you arrive rather than at the table.
Can we bring the kids?
Yes, and people do. It is an hour of paperwork at a conference table, so bring something to keep them busy. If you would rather not, we are happy to schedule around a school day.
Where do we close?
At our Murrysville office at 3950 William Penn Highway (Suite 5B), at your realtor's or lender's office by arrangement, or by appointment including early evenings. Parking is on site.
What if the closing date moves?
It happens, and it is usually the lender's clear-to-close rather than the title work. Our job is to make sure title is never the reason. If a date moves, you will hear it from us with a new one, not a vague "soon."
Questions before your closing?
Call 724-733-7700 and ask. There is no such thing as a question that is too small the week before a closing, and the ones people are embarrassed to ask are usually the useful ones.
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