Most real estate closings seem to be very smooth and easy at least to most consumers. They may have to sign too many documents but in most cases there is no drama. You go in, sign a bunch of papers, and leave with keys to your new home or a check from the sale of your home. Of course that is not always the case. Every once in a while there is a closing disaster that keeps you from completing the transaction and may even result in the transaction never happening.

myClosingSPACE.com has put together the Top 5 Closing Disasters and without further ado here they are.

1. Not Enough Money to Cover Closing Costs: Paying closing costs requires a certified check. That means that if you are short you can't whip out your check book and write a check for the difference. And what if you are short thousands of dollars? Most people don't have that much extra cash laying around especially after paying the original estimate. That's why it is important to get a guaranteed quote from your title company and work directly with them throughout the process. By working directly with your title company you will learn of any problems before you get to the closing. They will also work to take care of any problems that so you won't have to deal with surprises when you sit down to sign the documents. And with a guaranteed quote you can be assured that you will not pay any more than the quoted closing costs.
2. You Have Judgments Against You: Since your kid is going off to college you decide yo be a nice parent and buy him a car to get around. You put the car in your name. Unbeknownst to you the kid is parking the car wherever they want and racking up traffic tickets that go unpaid. Now you want to buy a home and when you site down to close you see an extra person there with their hand in your pocket. That's when you find out that your kid has racked up $6000.00 in parking tickets and they need to be paid before the closing can commence. These type of judgments can halt a closing and unless you have been in contact with your title company you may not learn about it until it is too late. If you work directly with your title company they will let you know about these issues and help you take care of them before closing so the transaction can go through without a hitch. Unfortunately, you are on your own with your kid.
3. Can't Coordinate the Closing: So you found the home of your dreams, got your mortgage, and you have scheduled the closing date. Great right? But what happens if you get there and find out the seller is in jail? If you can't coordinate the closing in a timely manner you could lose the home of your dreams. If the seller is in jail and you don't find out until you get to the closing table you may lose the opportunity to finish the transaction. If you are in direct contact with your title company you would know this before it is too late and either make arrangements to close the transaction at a later date or even withdraw your offer and look for a new house. It may be too late to do either if you don't know until the closing date.
   
4. You Find Out the Home you are Selling is Community Property: So you met your lovely wife a year after you bought your house. Your wife loved your house so instead of moving to a new home you both agreed to live at the house that is in your name. Everything is great until the day that first child arrived. Then your house became far too small and you needed a bigger house. Great, you go out and find the perfect home and someone wants to buy your home. You schedule closing on the house you are selling but it is at a time when your wife is going to be in Germany for business. No big deal since you owned the home before you met her and she was never added to the mortgage, right? Wrong, in most states when you get married the home you owned before the marriage becomes community property even if your spouse has not been officially included. So no you are at closing and the process can't be completed because your wife is not present to sign the documents. Not only do you lose the sale but now you are in jeopardy of losing the new house you want to buy. If you would have been working directly with a title company they would have been able to inform you that your wife would need to sign the documents too. The title company would be able to take care of this by having her sign the documents before the closing or set a different closing date so she could be present. Either way, direct communication with your title company would have kept your from losing the sale and losing the new home.
5. Your Lender Went Out of Business: This is a big one lately. With all of the sub-prime mortgage issues and many mortgage lenders going out of business many potential home buyers and those refinancing get to the closing table only to find out their lender went out of business and they no longer have funding. The last thing you want is to walk into your closing ready to get the keys to your new house or get a new mortgage with lower payments and walk out facing the possibility that you could lose your home. By working directly with your title company you can avoid this situation too. Since the title company is involved in the real estate business they will know about potential problems that a lender is facing and refuse to work with them. If you know this you can shop for a new lender before it is too late. Your title company may even be able to assist you in finding a qualified lender. If you know about it early you can save the deal but if you don't learn at closing it can be too late.

Buying a new home should be a great occasion and it usually is. Make sure it is a positive experience by being involved in the process and working directly with your title company. They can help you understand the ins and outs of the real estate transaction and avoid closing disasters.