A closing-table sentence that stays accurate

Closing day is a bad time to improvise, and a good time for one precise description of the call. The buyer will remember a promise more clearly than a brochure. Say what is set up with them, and say what they still enroll. Then stop.

Say this

"Here is Utility Connect. On a call with you, they set up internet, TV, security, home warranty, and the other home services, including electricity if your market lets you choose a plan. They also send you the gas, water, trash, and regulated electric information. You enroll in those yourself. Do the call this week, and enroll the local ones before you get the keys." Hand them the card. Stop talking.

Title teams and loan officers can use the same sentences. You are not becoming their utility company. You are pointing at a call that does two jobs, and you are naming the job that remains theirs.

Leave this out

"We'll get the utilities turned on."
"Water and power will be on Friday" before they have enrolled.
"Our office will call the electric company," in a regulated market.
"You don't have to think about the city accounts."
Any rate or install time you have not heard from their actual confirmations

You can say the non-local services get set up on their call. You cannot say the local utilities are already connected. We will not connect those either. If they never enroll, nothing in the closing folder starts the water.

When to hand it over

Clear-to-close is the right time to send the link, while two weeks still exist. The signing is the backstop, next to the keys and the "what happens next" sheet. Put it above the review request in the same-day email. If possession is a quick close, the sentence at the table may be the first time they hear it, so do not skip it.

If they say they already have providers, still offer the call. "Already have" often means the company from the last house. Deregulated electric and internet may not transfer. Regulated electric, water, and gas at the new address are new enrollments even when the logo matches. Do not argue them into switching at the table. Let the call do the comparison when they are not signing a deed.

What your file should contain

Keep a copy of the sentences you used, the URL, and the date. If a buyer later says nobody told them to enroll the local utilities, you want that note. You do not need their Social Security number, a water deposit receipt, or their utility passwords. If the possession date slips, email them to move any local start dates they already enrolled, and to call us so the services we set up can be moved with them. Do not call the city yourself.

Common questions

Can the closer enroll the water while the buyer signs?

No. The buyer enrolls with the local utilities. The closer hands over the link and the two sentences.

Should this be an authorization form?

No. A form that looks like an appointment of your office to open municipal accounts will be misread, and we will not use it. A card is enough.

What about an investor who will not live there?

The account holder still enrolls in the local utilities, under that provider's rules. The other services are still set up on a call with the person who can agree to them. Your sentences do not change.

More on the handoff is on the mortgage and title page.