Property Checklist

HOA and title closing checklist

Title, escrow, tax proration, HOA, condo, resale certificate, transfer fee, and closing-line documents to collect before closing.

Best for: Buyers, sellers, and agents trying to make title, escrow, association, and tax line items auditable.

Use when: Use this when a closing estimate has broad percentages, association documents are pending, or title charges changed.

Plain English

What papers should I collect before this decision?

Use this to keep the quote, cost, document, and question list in one place before you sign or pay.

Start here: Check the boxes you already have, then use the missing boxes as your question list.

Quote: The price and work list someone gave you.
Scope: What is included and what is not included.
Proof: Photos, receipts, readings, reports, and notes.
Deductible: The money you may pay before insurance helps.
Cleanup: Stop, dry, remove, clean, or make safe.
Rebuild: Put the home back together: walls, floors, cabinets, paint, and fixtures.

Title and escrow fee lines

Title costs are easier to challenge when each fee has its own line.

Settlement or escrow fee

Core

Confirm party responsible, local custom, and whether fee is flat or percentage-based.

Title policy charges

Separate owner policy, lender policy, simultaneous issue, endorsements, and optional coverage.

Recording, wire, courier, document, and notary fees

Look for duplicated or unclear pass-through charges.

Taxes and payoff timing

Proration and payoff errors can move the net sheet or cash-to-close number late in the process.

Tax bill and proration method

Check tax period, bill status, closing date, exemptions, and who receives the credit or debit.

Payoff statement

For sellers, use a payoff quote with interest-through date, release fee, wire fee, and escrow balance handling.

Municipal or transfer charges

Check transfer tax, local certificates, utility payoff, occupancy permits, and recording requirements where applicable.

Association documents

HOA and condo fees can hit both sides through resale packages, transfer fees, dues, assessments, violations, and rush charges.

Resale certificate or condo questionnaire

Core

Confirm base fee, rush fee, update fee, lender questionnaire, and who pays.

Transfer, capital, move-in, and working-capital fees

Separate one-time charges from prepaid dues.

Dues, assessments, violations, and fines

Ask whether any unpaid amount, special assessment, violation, or architectural issue must be cleared before closing.

Before you act

  • Run title company cost, tax proration, resale certificate, association dues, and transfer fee calculators.
  • Ask the title company and association manager for current fee sheets.
  • Verify contract responsibility for every fee before treating the estimate as final.

Decision packet prompt

Build a packet with title fee sheet, tax proration, payoff timing, association documents, transfer fees, unpaid dues, assessments, and contract responsibility.

Open the decision packet

Use this before requesting or accepting an estimate

A checklist is useful before monetization: collect the evidence first, then use it to run the calculator, compare the bid, build the packet, or request a cleaner estimate. Do not send private claim documents through Kefiw unless a page explicitly explains how that information is handled.

Checklist FAQ

Should I wait to use this checklist until the claim is open?

No. The checklist is useful before cleanup, before signing, before filing, before an adjuster visit, and before sale or rental documentation conversations.

Does this checklist decide coverage or contract terms?

No. It helps organize proof and questions. Verify policy, contract, safety, legal, and local-rule issues with qualified sources.

What should I do after completing it?

Run the related calculator, build the Property Decision Packet, compare the bid, or request an estimate only after the key proof and missing questions are visible.