By Angela Colley for realtor.com| Feb 25, 2016

Ah, closing on a house. It’s the finish line! You’re almost home free (or free of your home in this case). You’ve accepted the buyer’s offer, the negotiations are finally winding down, and there is only one more little box to check: closing.

OK, so maybe it isn’t a little thing. And maybe you’re a little bit worried something is still going to go wrong when closing on a house. That’s why we’re here to help get you through closing without a hitch—or barely a hitch (hey, stuff happens).

So check the approved offer, make a note of any repairs you and the buyer agreed on, and get to it—and don’t forget to cover yourself. Save receipts from items purchased and invoices from contractors, and take before and after photos of any work completed. You will have proof that repairs were completed on the off chance that the buyers contest them during the walkthrough or at closing.

Before your closing —often 24 hours or right before—the buyers and the buyers’ agent will do one more walkthrough of the house (for which you should not be present).

If things are going smoothly, the closing for you might boil down to a blur of paperwork.  Unless problems creep up—or the buyer wants to negotiate further—you only have two jobs: waiting and reading documents.

Once the negotiations are handled and the papers are signed, the buyers’ funds are transferred to your attorney, who will handle the payments to cover your loan and pay your real estate team. Thankfully, this part is handled by someone else.

And then comes the best part: You’ll get a check for the remainder! For more details about the closing process go to bmre.us/hint2   For more tips for home buyers and hints for home sellers go to bmre.us/tips