Checklist · Real Estate · Chicago

Homebuyer Closing Checklist (Chicago Area)

Dozens of moving parts, one deadline that doesn’t move. Here is the closing, in the order it actually happens.

By Lincoln Square Law · 8-minute read

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A home purchase in the Chicago area involves dozens of moving parts and one date that rarely moves: closing. Buyers who know the sequence can see problems while there is still time to fix them. Buyers who do not tend to learn about each step when someone asks for a document they have never heard of. This checklist follows the purchase in the order it actually happens, with the reason behind each step and the deadlines that matter most.

Immediately after your offer is accepted

• Calendar every contract date the same day. Attorney review, inspection, mortgage commitment, appraisal, and closing are each tied to a date or a number of days after acceptance. Write them down, count business days where the contract says business days, and share the list with your lender and attorney.
• Deliver the earnest money on time. Confirm who holds it and get a receipt. A late installment can be treated as a default under many contracts.
• Send the contract to your attorney. Attorney review is short, usually measured in business days from acceptance, and it is the window in which terms can still be renegotiated.
• Send the contract to your lender. The loan process runs on its own timeline, and the lender needs the executed contract to order the appraisal.
• Collect the seller’s disclosures. For most residential sales, the seller must deliver the statutory disclosure report before the contract is signed (765 ILCS 77/20). If it arrives late and discloses a material defect, the buyer has five business days after receipt to terminate (765 ILCS 77/40). For homes built before 1978, expect the federal lead-based paint disclosure (42 U.S.C. §4852d).

During attorney review and inspection

• Schedule the inspection immediately. Inspection periods are short. Add a sewer scope for older homes, and radon testing where appropriate.
• Read the inspection report for decisions, not just defects. Separate safety issues, major systems, and items that affect insurability from cosmetic findings. Your attorney will use the report to request repairs or credits.
• Review the proposed modifications with your attorney. Common topics include repair credits, closing date and possession, what personal property stays, and the mortgage contingency terms.
• For condominiums, request the association documents. The Condominium Property Act requires specified documents and information to be made available to a resale buyer, including the declaration, bylaws, rules, financial information, and information about capital expenditures and pending litigation (765 ILCS 605/22.1). Read the budget, reserves, special assessments, rental restrictions, and insurance before the review period ends.
• Do not let a deadline pass silently. If attorney review or inspection ends without written action, many contracts treat the right as waived.

Financing and title: the middle stretch

• Respond to lender requests within a day. Missing bank statements and employment verifications are the most common cause of late mortgage commitments.
• Do not change your financial profile. Avoid new credit, large purchases, job changes, and unexplained deposits until after closing.
• Watch the mortgage commitment date. If the written commitment will not arrive in time, your attorney should request an extension in writing before the deadline, or give the notice the contract requires.
• Review the title commitment. Confirm the names, the legal description, and the requirements in Schedule B, Part I, and read the exceptions in Schedule B, Part II. Anything listed there becomes your risk rather than the insurer’s.
• Review the survey or plat. Compare it with the commitment for encroachments and easements, and confirm parking and storage rights for a condominium.
• Bind homeowners insurance. Your lender will require proof of coverage before closing. For a condominium, you need a unit-owner policy that fits the association’s master policy.
• Track the appraisal. If it comes in below the price, your options depend on the contract and the loan terms, so involve your attorney promptly.

The week before closing

• Review the Closing Disclosure. For most consumer mortgages, federal rules require the lender to provide the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before consummation (12 C.F.R. §1026.19(f)). Compare the loan terms, rate, cash to close, and credits with what you were promised.
• Confirm wiring instructions by phone. Real estate wire fraud is common. Call the title company at a number you obtained independently, not one from an email, before sending funds. Never change wiring instructions based on an email alone.
• Review the settlement statement with your attorney. Check the purchase price, earnest money credit, tax proration, repair credits, and payoffs. In Cook County, property taxes are billed a year in arrears, so the proration credit from the seller is often one of the larger numbers on the statement.
• Arrange utilities. Schedule transfers of electricity, gas, internet, and, where applicable, water, effective on the closing date.
• Do the final walkthrough. Confirm that agreed repairs were made, appliances and fixtures that are supposed to stay are there, systems work, and the property is in the condition the contract requires.
• Gather identification and funds. Bring valid government-issued photo identification. Confirm the form of funds the title company requires.

At closing

• Read before you sign. Your attorney will walk you through the note, mortgage, deed, and closing statement. Ask about anything that differs from what you reviewed.
• Confirm transfer tax handling. Illinois imposes a state real estate transfer tax, Cook County adds a county tax, and Chicago imposes its own transfer tax on properties in the city (35 ILCS 200/31-10). Which party pays each portion is set by law and the contract, and the settlement statement should reflect it.
• Get the keys and codes. Keys, garage remotes, mailbox keys, alarm codes, and, for a condominium, fobs and any association contact information.

After closing

• Confirm recording. The deed and mortgage are recorded with the Cook County Clerk’s Recordings Division or the county recorder elsewhere. Recording protects your ownership against later claims (765 ILCS 5/30). Keep the recorded copies when they arrive.
• Keep the owner’s title policy. It usually arrives weeks after closing. Compare it with the commitment you reviewed.
• Apply for property tax exemptions. If the home is your principal residence, apply for the homeowner exemption and any other exemptions you qualify for through the county assessor. The savings are substantial and are not automatic for a new owner.
• Change the locks and update records. Change exterior locks, update your address with your bank, employer, and the Secretary of State, and file your closing documents where you can find them.
• Watch your first mortgage statement and tax bills. Confirm your escrow account was set up correctly and that the tax bill is being sent to the right place.

If something goes wrong before closing

Delays happen. A lender needs one more document, a repair is not finished, or the seller’s payoff letter arrives late. What matters is how the delay is handled. Any change to the closing date, possession, credits, or repairs should be agreed in writing between the attorneys, not only in a text between agents. If the seller cannot complete a repair, a credit or escrow holdback may be an alternative, but lenders have rules about both. If possession will be delayed after closing, a written post-closing possession agreement, with a daily charge and an escrowed deposit, protects the buyer. And if it looks like the deal may not close, your attorney should review the contract’s default and termination provisions before anyone sends a notice.

The dates that cause most problems

Most closing problems trace back to a missed or misunderstood date rather than a dramatic dispute: an attorney review period that ended without a response, a mortgage commitment deadline that passed without an extension, or a late condominium document that arrived after the buyer could still act on it. The single most useful habit is to treat every contract date as a hard deadline, confirm who is responsible for each one, and put any extension in writing.

Keep this checklist with your contract. It is written for the Chicago area, where attorney involvement in residential closings is standard, and it is general information rather than advice about a particular transaction.