Mississippi Home Buying and Closing Process

Overview

• Mississippi homebuying process is similar to other states where a closing agent (who is usually an attorney or representative from a title company) is used to consummate the transaction and prepare all the closing documents.
• In Mississippi, buyers and sellers often consummate the transaction at the same closing (or ‘settlement’) table.
• Mississippi has its own environmental features that influence which inspections get performed, such as a termite inspection (a.k.a. a wood destroying insect report).

Step by Step

Part 1: Disclosures, inspections, and title

These are the initial tasks once a buyer is in contract, and are most often done in parallel to Part 2: The mortgage process:

1. An offer is accepted by the seller and a contract is signed and accepted.


2. Concurrently, a deposit, or earnest money, is paid to an escrow agent, an attorney, or broker (never to the seller directly).


3. The signed contract is sent to an attorney or title company to begin the preparation of all work related to transferring and changing the title to the new owners and preparing the title commitment.


4. The buyer reviews and signs off on any disclosures. These disclosures vary based on property type but can include things like known flaws with the property, prior improvements or repairs, and potential environmental or health hazards. In Mississippi, sellers are required by law to submit a form called the property condition disclosure statement (and update it if any non-cosmetic defects are found during inspections), and buyers and sellers both must sign it.


5. The buyer elects to perform inspections on the property if agreed upon in the contract. Any inspections must be completed by a certain number of days, the expiration of which can be called simply an inspection contingency date. The types of inspections vary by property type and situation (and locale), but in Mississippi, a licensed home inspector generally inspects the home first, and other inspections and tests can be ordered if revealed to be necessary by the initial inspection.


6. A wood infestation inspection is also performed in Mississippi and a Wood Destroying Insect Report is generated that many lenders will require at closing. In many cases, this will be the seller’s responsibility. If the buyer is responsible for this in the contract, then there will be a number of days within which buyers must complete this inspection and get their report.


7. In addition to these inspections, if the home was built before 1978, it may be necessary to verify that no lead-based paint exists on the property by requesting certification from the seller or performing a lead-paint inspection. If the property has a septic tank, it may be necessary to perform a septic inspection to verify that the septic tank is in good working order and does not present any environmental hazard.


8. A buyer’s options after inspection are somewhat vague in the standard Mississippi homebuying contract. They are compelled to deliver to the seller any inspection report, and the seller must update the property condition disclosure statement with the new defects. Any differences must be worked out between buyer and seller. Buyers are advised to consult legal counsel to understand what their recourse is, so as to not get stuck buying a home with undisclosed defects.

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Part 2: The mortgage process

For those borrowing to purchase their home, the mortgage process is usually the most stressful and opaque part of the transaction. It’s best to start as early as possible and be ready to produce lots of documentation. The following is the general process in Mississippi:

1. A buyer submits a loan application to their lender, either directly or through a mortgage broker. See a sample Uniform Residential Loan Application used in Mississippi.


2. Within 3 days, the lender sends a “Good Faith Estimate,” or GFE, to the buyer that is a breakdown of estimated closing costs. The final costs are likely to deviate from this estimate. See a sample GFE at hud.gov.


3. Homeowners’ insurance is applied for (or substantiated, if the property being purchased includes homeowners’ insurance as part of association fees or similar arrangements), and proof of homeowners’ insurance is obtained.


4. The buyer sends a series of personal financial disclosures to their lender. These vary by situation, but the most commonly requested documents are:
   • Several months of statements for each bank account a borrower holds (including any investment accounts)
   
   
   • Several months of statements for any outstanding loans, lines of credit, or other liabilities. This can also include documentation of rent payments.
   
   
   • Up to two years of tax returns, released to the lender via an authorization submitted by the buyer using IRS form 4506-T.
   
   
   • Recent pay stubs and contact information for each borrower’s employer. The number of pay stubs varies by situation.
   
   
   • Any other disclosures that are material to a borrower’s financial situation. This includes but is not limited to marriage licenses, divorce settlements, child support, liens, bankruptcies, or judgments. If there’s something that affects how much money you have on hand that isn’t shown by simply looking at your salary, be prepared to document it.
   
   
   • Explanation of any credit inquiries
   
   
   • Substantiation of any large deposits or cash gifts that aren’t regular income. In some cases, a large cash gift may look similar to a personal loan by a friend or family member, and lenders will require gift letters from those that gave you the cash gift, stating that the gift was not a loan. They may also ask for itemized deposit slips.
     
     The exact amount that triggers this requirement varies by the situation (for instance, a $1,000 cash gift may be material to a single borrower that makes $35,000/yr but may not be material to a borrower that makes $350,000/yr), so it’s good practice to ask your lender if you suspect you might have a material cash gift or large deposit – so you aren’t surprised by this at the last minute.
   
   
   • Repeated and updated documentation of any of the above. Keep in mind: to a lender, anything can happen to a borrower’s personal financial situation and credit during the escrow process. Thus, you may be asked more than once for the same type of document so that your lender has the most recent pay stubs, rent receipts, bank statements, or other disclosures that may change over time. Any material changes in these documents -or any element of your personal financial situation- may require the lender to reassess your eligibility for the loan for which you’ve applied.


5. The lender renders an approval decision, and if approved, issues a loan commitment letter, stating its willingness to fund the mortgage provided certain conditions are met. These conditions usually include appraisal (so the lender can confirm that the property you’re buying isn’t worth far less than you’re paying) but will also generally include any material change in your situation -or the property- as initially disclosed to your lender.


6. The loan and insurance contingency is removed within a number of days defined in the contract by sending a copy of their loan commitment or approval and approval for homeowners’ insurance. In most cases in Mississippi, If the buyer/borrower is unable to get this approval before the expiration of the loan and insurance contingency, the seller has the option to either a) ignore the buyer’s lack of performance by the expiration date and negotiate another arrangement, b) declare the buyer in breach and keep the earnest money, or c) cancel the deal and give back the earnest money.
   
   Buyers are advised to read and understand this clause carefully and consult legal counsel to ensure they don’t lose their deposit simply because they were rejected by their lender by no fault of their own. Contracts can be standardized, but any negotiation to protect either side can be written in so long as all parties agree.


7. An appraisal is ordered by the lender or mortgage broker via a central directory of appraisers (often called an Appraisal Management Company or AMC). Choosing a specific appraiser is not possible, but a mortgage broker can reject an appraiser and ask for a new one.
   
   If the appraisal comes in lower than the purchase price, and the contract indicates that appraisal at or above purchase price is a contingency of the agreement (an appraisal contingency), then a buyer can walk away without penalty if the appraisal comes in under the purchase price. Sellers may also try to negotiate to avoid losing the buyer if appraisal becomes an issue.


8. Tip: As this process can be long, arduous, seemingly arbitrary, and is often critical to your homebuying transaction, try to prepare these documents (or at least figure out how to prepare them) in advance. Also, do not make any changes to your employment or credit until your transaction is complete (not just until you get a loan commitment letter). This means not switching employers even if it results in a higher income, as counterintuitive as that may sound. It also means not leasing or financing a car, opening a new credit card account, or anything else that can affect your credit report.

Part 3: The closing (‘settlement’) itself

The closing or ‘settlement’ process itself general takes place at one table (either at the office of an attorney or title company), where buyers sign all documents related to their loan and the transaction itself. After all documents are signed and payments exchanged, buyers generally take possession of the keys after the deed is recorded unless a separate agreement has been reached to allow the seller to stay in the property for a period after closing. The detailed steps that makeup closing are:

1. As part of the preparation for closing, the attorney or title company performs a title search (if they haven’t already) to determine if there are any liens or assessments on the title. Tip: insist upon running a title search early in the process so there are no surprises right before closing.
   
   Provided the title is deemed ‘clear,’ the closing proceeds as planned and the attorney or title company issues a title commitment. All paperwork for changing the title / deed and title insurance is prepared, and a final closing date is confirmed with all parties.


2. A final cash figure for what a buyer needs to bring to the closing in the form of a cashier’s check is calculated. This is based not only on a mortgage’s closing costs but factors like property taxes and utilities paid in to date by the seller.


3. A final walkthrough will often be performed the day of or before closing to verify the property is in the same condition it was when the process began, provided it’s agreed upon in the contract.


4. At the closing or settlement, table, the buyer (and seller) sign all closing documents, including the HUD-1 (see a sample HUD-1 here), and the final loan documents.


5. The buyer pays the remaining funds in their downpayment to the attorney or a representative of the title company who is acting as the closing agent via certified funds (or wire transfer in advance).


6. The representative from the title company or attorney will then record the transaction and deed with the appropriate municipality.


7. The buyer receives the keys from the seller or seller’s agent, and, unless indicated differently in the contract, officially takes possession of the property.