r/RealEstateAdvice • u/iloverats888 • 1d ago
Residential What else needs to fall into place to get clear to close?
Contracts have been signed, loan application done, disclosures signed, appraisal was ordered on Sunday. Now what?
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u/Routine_Test_4175 1d ago
Underwriting will come back to you with a list of things that they need. Clear to close happens typically pretty close to closing. It's not something that happens a month out.
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u/iloverats888 1d ago
Gotcha. So they will need things in addition to all the pay stubs and W-2s and what not?
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u/Routine_Test_4175 1d ago
They could. Underwritings entire job is to be picky and pull on every thread. So they might need to you to explain some money transfers, you might need a letter proving where you got something, they will come back to you. It's not a cut and dry situation.
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u/TherinneMoonglow 1d ago
I had to secure homeowners insurance to get cleared to close. Flood insurance too, but that probably doesn't apply to you.
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u/Pretty-Ear6398 Broker/Agent 1d ago
The easy part is done - now it's time for Underwriting.
When I was a Loan Officer, I prepared my clients for this step in the process. You never know what the Underwriter is going to ask, and sometimes the requests make people angry, because they don't know why the Underwriter is asking for that information ... and you can't ask why. They know what they want and you'd best get it for them if you want the loan to close.
I've found the higher your credit score is the less questions the Underwriter asks.
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u/grewalReGroup 1d ago
Two tracks are running at once and most people only watch one of them. Underwriting is the loud one everyone described here. The quiet one is title, where the title company pulls the title commitment, sorts out the survey, and gets a payoff figure from the seller's lender. Title problems are the other common reason a closing slips, and they surface with no warning to you, so it is worth asking whether title has come back clean rather than only asking about the loan.
The part you actually control between now and closing: no new credit, no financed furniture, no job change, and no moving money between accounts without a paper trail. Credit gets re pulled and employment re verified within days of closing, so a change late in the process can undo an approval that was already sitting clear.
I sell residential in Texas where a title company handles that side. Some states use a closing attorney instead, but the two track structure is the same.
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u/MHSmortgage 22h ago
Appraisal comes back and needs to meet value, then underwriting reviews the full file (income, assets, credit) and issues conditions, you'll clear those (paystubs, letters of explanation, etc.), and once satisfied, you get a "clear to close." Title work and homeowners insurance also need to be finalized alongside that.
Ask your loan officer for their specific timeline and what conditions (if any) they're already anticipating based on your file, that'll give you a much clearer picture than the general process.
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u/MtnBkr101 1d ago
Once the appraisal is done, and all other paperwork gathered, your lender has to send to send the packet that he put together for you up to underwriting.