Final Walkthrough, Signing and Funding: The Last Five Days

The last five days of an SF escrow run in a fixed order: Closing Disclosure, walkthrough, signing, funding, recording. Each step gates the next, the Closing Disclosure starts a legally required three-business-day wait, and the one irreversible mistake, wiring your closing funds to a criminal, happens in this window.

The last five days in order

California closes by recording, not by a sit-down closing. Funding and recording usually fall on consecutive days, and a cash purchase skips the loan steps but not the deed, the wire or the recording.

The three-business-day rule

Federal rules require you to receive the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you sign the loan documents. For this purpose a business day is every day except Sundays and federal holidays, so a disclosure received Tuesday allows a Friday signing. If it is mailed rather than delivered electronically with your acknowledgment, receipt is presumed three business days after mailing, which can add most of a week.

Only three changes restart the clock: the APR rises beyond its tolerance (an eighth of a point on a fixed loan, a quarter on an adjustable), the loan product changes, or a prepayment penalty is added. Anything else, including a corrected fee or a last-minute seller credit, produces a revised Closing Disclosure you receive at or before signing with no new wait. Use the three days: closing costs line by line is the comparison against your Loan Estimate, and errors are far easier to fix before documents are drawn than after.

Final walkthrough checklist for SF homes

The California purchase contract gives you a final verification of condition within five days before close; the SFAR contract has an equivalent clause. Go after the seller has moved out, with the contract, the inspection reports and the repair agreement in hand, and take photos of everything.

• Repairs promised. Each item in the repair addendum completed, with receipts and permits where required, and any Section 1 pest work supported by a completion certificate.
• Seller belongings and debris. Closets, garage, basement, under-stair storage, the roof deck and the rear yard empty. "Broom clean" means gone.
• Appliances and fixtures. Every item listed as included is present: the range, refrigerator if included, washer and dryer, window coverings, light fixtures, mounted televisions if negotiated, the EV charger. Swapped fixtures are a classic.
• Systems. Run hot water at the farthest tap, flush every toilet, cycle the furnace or heat pump, test the garbage disposal, open and close every window and exterior door, check the doorbell and intercom.
• Water and damage. Look under sinks, at ceilings below bathrooms, and in the garage for new stains. Movers scrape walls and crack tile; note it now.
• Garage, storage and access. Garage door opener and remotes, deeded parking space or storage locker number matches the contract, mailbox and building entry fobs, gate codes.
• Tenant-occupied units. If a unit stays occupied, confirm the tenant estoppel matches the lease, that the keys you are getting are the ones the tenant uses, and that security deposits transfer through escrow.
• Utilities on. Nothing can be tested if the seller already closed the PG&E account; ask the listing agent to keep service through recording.

If something is wrong at the walkthrough

Tell your agent immediately and put it in writing to the listing agent before you sign. Small items, such as a missing appliance or an unfinished repair, are usually handled with an escrow holdback: an agreed sum withheld from the seller's proceeds and released when the item is resolved, or a credit on an amended Closing Disclosure. Bigger problems, such as a seller who is not out, new damage, or a repair not done, justify delaying signing and funding by a day or two; sellers almost always cooperate once the alternative is a breach claim. If the seller needs more time, convert the delay into a written seller rent-back with a daily rate and a deposit rather than closing on a promise.

Signing: where, what to bring, what you are signing

Escrow will offer a signing at its office or send a notary to you. Bring a current government photo ID (two forms if escrow asks), your checkbook for any small shortfall, and the Closing Disclosure you already reviewed. A financed signing takes 45 to 90 minutes. Read the three documents that matter in full: the promissory note (loan amount, rate, payment, any prepayment penalty), the deed of trust (what the lender can do if you default), and the final Closing Disclosure (every number matches). The rest are affidavits, disclosures and escrow instructions; confirm the names, address and vesting on the grant deed and the vesting instructions, since fixing a misspelled name later means recording a corrective deed.

The deed of trust must be notarized. California authorized remote online notarization in 2023, but as of 2026-10-24 most California notarizations still happen in person; some lenders allow a hybrid closing where you e-sign everything except the notarized documents. California caps a notary's fee per signature by statute, but travel fees for a mobile notary are unregulated and vary by company, so ask escrow what is included before you book one.

Wiring your closing funds safely

Your cash to close goes to escrow by wire, usually the day before funding. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported more than $2.7 billion in business email compromise losses in 2024, and real estate buyers are a prime target in exactly this week, because criminals who have been reading a compromised email thread know your closing date. The verification steps:

1. Get wire instructions from escrow early, by a channel escrow told you to expect at the start (a secure portal or an encrypted email), never from a message that arrives unprompted.
2. Call the escrow officer on the phone number you wrote down when escrow opened, not a number in the email, and read back the bank name, routing number and account number.
3. Treat any change to instructions as fraud. Legitimate escrow companies do not change their bank account mid-transaction.
4. Send the wire from your bank in person or by phone where possible, and ask the banker to confirm the beneficiary name matches the escrow company.
5. Call escrow to confirm receipt the same day. If anything is off, call your bank immediately to request a recall and report it to the FBI at ic3.gov; recovery odds fall by the hour.

Cashier's checks are an alternative some escrow companies accept for smaller balances; ask, since many now require wires.

Funding, and why it can slip a day

After you sign, the notary returns the package to escrow, which sends it to the lender. The lender's funder reviews every signature and clears prior-to-funding conditions: a final verbal verification of your employment within 10 business days before the note date, a credit refresh, the insurance binder with the correct mortgagee clause, the HOA certificate, and proof your funds arrived. A missing initial or an insurance document naming the wrong lender address can push funding a day. Stay reachable and do not touch your credit. Once the lender wires, escrow balances the file and the deed goes to the recorder the next morning.

Last-minute issues

• Lock expiration. If funding will slip past your lock, ask for the extension immediately; fees are commonly quoted as a fraction of a point per 7 to 15 days, with published schedules around 0.125% to 0.25% of the loan for a short extension and Bankrate's overall range at roughly 0.25% to 1%, often as a flat fee (as of 2026-10-25, check current figures), so check your lender's schedule.
• HOA letters. Lenders sometimes want an updated HOA certification or proof dues are current within days of funding; management companies charge for rush letters, so ask escrow to order early.
• Insurance binders. The binder must show your name, the property address exactly as the lender has it, the coverage amount, and the lender's mortgagee clause; a mismatch is the most common last-day correction.
• Cash to close changed. A revised Closing Disclosure at signing can move the number by a prorated day of interest or dues; escrow will tell you the exact wire amount after signing. Wire that figure, not the earlier one.