I found that just buying a flat (apartment) was enough of a hassle - sounds like you've had lots of 'fun'. Ah well, it's time to enjoy it!

Know what you mean about all the information-gathering culminating in a short closing process. After about 5 weeks of information-gathering, the actual closing (settlement, it's called here) was over within 5 minutes. It was me, a solicitor, and a finance company representative, all passing pieces of paper around in a circle. Still, I got to glimpse both my title deeds, and a big fat cheque, as they passed from soicitor to finance company and vice versa.
The euphoria set in once I completed the final task - faxing the estate agent to inform them I had settled. The train trip from town (where settlement took place) to the estate agent (so I could pick up the keys) felt like the longest train trip ever :)