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By far, the majority of closings go smoothly. If you're a first-time home buyer, you may be surprised at how easily the process flows and how nonchalant everyone seems. The pros in the room have done this many times before, and they're as eager as you are to close the deal. If you laid the groundwork properly - you met your obligations, got your questions answered, and gathered everything you needed for the closing - you'll be in good shape.
Even so, problems can and do arise. One of the most common is a lender who doesn't send over all the necessary documents or delays transferring funds to the closing agent. If the closing agent discovers that documents are missing, she'll contact the lender's office and ask someone there to fax them over. If the lender is slow to wire the money, you may have to wait for funds. Such problems usually result from tardiness, oversight, or a technical glitch, not from any problem with your loan. But it can be annoying to wait for the lender to get its act together.
A closing that is complete except for the final act of disbursing funds and delivering documents is called a dry closing. In a dry closing, you've fulfilled all your obligations, signed all the papers, and paid the promised deposit and other monies, but the funds from your lender haven't arrived. If all parties agree, the closing takes place anyway - but it's not final until the funds arrive from the lender and the closing agent distributes them, usually later that day or the following day.
There can be more serious problems with loan documents as well, however. You may find that the interest rate isn't what you expected or that the costs listed don't match your Good Faith Estimate. Snafus like this may take a day - or several - to clear up.
Last-minute title problems sometimes crop up, too. A lien or claim that didn't come up in the initial title search may become known at the closing. Or you may find that the seller hasn't paid back property taxes. Your lender won't want to proceed (and neither should you) until you settle these issues.
Sometimes, the closing agent may make a mistake and tell you the wrong amount of money to bring to the closing. If she asked for too much, no problem - you get the excess back. But if she asked for too little, everything comes to a grinding halt until you make up the difference. If it's for a small amount, you can probably pay the difference with a personal check (good thing you brought your checkbook!). If it's substantial, though - say, more than a few hundred dollars - you have to have the extra funds wired or go out and get a bank check or cash.
Issues that come up in your final walkthrough can also lengthen the closing. For example, maybe the seller has moved out but left the garage crammed with junk. Make sure you resolve such problems before the sale is final - in this case, for example, you could have the seller write you a check to have his junk hauled away - but dealing with issues like these at the closing takes time.
Usually, you can resolve closing problems the same day. Sometimes, you have to go through with a dry closing or reschedule the closing a day or two later. Most of the time, though, once you and the seller have released all contingencies, the escrow agent has fulfilled all of the escrow instructions, and the underwriter signs off on your loan, you're good to go. It's rare for closing-day problems to kill a sale.
