Home closing checklist for sellers

Selling a house can be a long, complicated process. There are, however, several steps you can take to ensure that the process runs as smoothly as possible. Following is a home closing checklist for sellers that will help guide you through this transaction.

• Clean the house from top to bottom, inside and out. Don?t leave a mess behind for the new owners. Would you want someone to do that to you? If you don?t have time to clean, hire a professional to assist you.
• Gather important documents. You might even make this part of the house-cleaning process. Go through your file cabinets and paperwork and pull anything house-related for safekeeping. Having important documents in-hand and ready will indeed speed the overall selling process.
• Perform a final walk through and shut off utilities. Make sure nothing is leaking and quickly deal with any issues that could delay closing.
• When the sale is complete, remember to cancel your insurance policies and close accounts associated with the home such as utilities and even newspaper delivery. You should also change your address with the U.S. Postal Service.
• Make sure any keys, remote control devices, appliance manuals, etc. are left for the new owners. Other than that, don?t leave anything behind that wasn?t part of the contract. The new owners likely don?t want the old piano or pool table that you didn?t feel like dealing with.