Reconcile the final settlement with approved loan proceeds.
A closing statement should be reconciled as a versioned cash equation. When the required borrower wire changes, identify every changed use and source, its reason, its owner and whether it is final. Comparing only the bottom line can hide an omitted reserve, duplicate fee, changed payoff or credit that is not actually available at closing.
A historical SEC-filed payoff letter illustrates that payoff amounts can depend on receipt timing and per diem. It is a non-CRE corporate example, not a schedule of real estate payoff terms. Actual loan documents, payoff instructions and closing statements govern the transaction. The figures below are entirely hypothetical.
Establish the baseline before changes arrive
Assume an acquisition has a $6 million purchase price, $120,000 closing costs, $180,000 required reserves and a $150,000 seller credit that is accepted for this hypothetical financing. Gross loan proceeds are $3.9 million, all available at closing. A $100,000 borrower deposit is already held by the closing agent and credited toward the transaction.
Total uses are $6.3 million. Available closing sources before the new borrower wire are $3.9 million debt, $150,000 seller credit and the $100,000 deposit. The new wire is therefore $2.15 million. The borrower’s total contributed cash, including the earlier deposit, is $2.25 million. Both figures are useful, but they answer different questions.
Give this baseline a version and timestamp. Identify whether each fee is an estimate, a maximum, an invoice or a final agreed charge. Link the reserve requirement and credit treatment to the applicable instructions rather than leaving them as unexplained spreadsheet entries.
Build a change bridge by cause
Suppose the final draft contains these changes:
| Change from baseline | Effect on new borrower wire | Reason to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Loan amount reduced | +$75,000 | Final lender proceeds instruction |
| Insurance premium increase | +$12,000 | Final broker invoice; recurring expense also changes |
| Additional lender reserve | +$40,000 | Written reserve requirement and ownership |
| Seller credit reduced | +$20,000 | Executed agreement and lender acceptance |
| Previously paid legal retainer credited | −$10,000 | Proof it was included in the $120,000 cost budget |
| Duplicate report fee removed | −$5,000 | Invoice already funded through deposit escrow |
| Net change | +$132,000 | Reconcile to final statement |
The revised new wire is $2,282,000. If the borrower has $2.3 million ready in the permitted funding account, remaining cash headroom is $18,000. That margin should be compared with unresolved items, not treated as final excess liquidity.
The $10,000 retainer credit is valid in this example because the cost was included in baseline uses and the payment was not already included among baseline sources. If it had already reduced the baseline wire, crediting it again would understate cash needed. Every prepaid amount needs a single trace through both versions.
Distinguish reclassification from new money
A fee moving from “lender costs” to “title disbursements” does not change total uses if the same amount remains charged once. A reserve moving from a borrower wire to withheld loan proceeds may leave total equity unchanged while changing how funds arrive. Document the classification so the closing agent and borrower do not both fund the same item.
Conversely, a lender’s reduction in net proceeds is real even when the note’s face amount is unchanged. If $50,000 of the existing loan amount is newly withheld for repairs, closing cash falls $50,000. The borrower cannot use that conditional future draw to cover today’s wire unless the approved funding arrangement actually permits it.
Keep purchase deposits, lender deposits and report escrows distinct. They may be held by different parties and have different credit or refund treatment. “Deposits paid” is not a sufficient source category without confirmation of where the funds sit and how they will be applied.
Reverify timing and transfer instructions
If closing is postponed, update time-sensitive items such as payoff interest, tax or operating prorations and any expiring credit or rate-related charge under the actual documents. A two-day delay at a hypothetical $800 payoff per diem adds $1,600, reducing the $18,000 headroom to $16,400 if all other items remain unchanged.
Separately, verify payment instructions through a trusted secondary channel. The FBI’s real estate fraud guidance advises confirming requests outside the potentially compromised email channel using known contact information. A reconciled amount does not establish that the receiving account is legitimate.
The final approval packet should show the baseline, every change, final cash needed, verified funding source and unresolved conditions. Retain the approved version and actual disbursement reconciliation. That record turns a last-minute cash surprise into a reviewable explanation rather than an unexplained demand for a larger wire.
Sources and evidence
- SEC-filed Scynexis payoff letterPayoff Amount; Wiring Instructions; Termination of Obligations; Lender’s Agreements · Checked 2026-10-21 · One non-CRE corporate payoff illustrates per diem, receipt deadlines and release conditions; its terms and amounts are not generalized.
- FBI — Digital defense against real estate fraudReal estate business-email-compromise precautions; secondary-channel verification · Checked 2026-10-21 · Fraud-prevention guidance; no actual payment instructions, accounts or transfer are provided.
Source dates and applicability matter. Report an error or a changed source.