One of the first questions we ask new home buyers is "When would you like to be in your new home?". The first time I met Megan she told me "I'm not in a rush". Sometimes those words strike a mental shoulder slump in many Realtors and its hard to explain how some of us have an innate sense of serious buyer vs tire kicker. Home buyers who are serious have a certain intensity about them. If they ask questions about the Buyer Agency Agreement before signing it and have a list of specific needs with a definitive location range, then they are serious. If the buyer does what is asked of them by the real estate agent (contact a lender and give constructive feedback on listings), then they are serious. Megan may have been one of the most analytical first time homebuyers I've worked with and it was a total joy. She may not have been in a rush but once the process started, she also understood that there is no profit in procrastination.
Megan actually found the house she wanted pretty quickly. While she was thinking about it, the seller lowered the price by $10,000 and Megan was gutsy enough to go ahead and make an offer right away. The negotiations went quickly and we got the sellers to not only come down a little more on the price, they agreed to pay $3,000 towards Megan's closing costs.
Everything went very smoothly, Megan hired her closing attorney, home inspector and pest inspector. The appraisal was performed. She complied promptly with every request from her lender for copies of financial paperwork. We were in great shape and could see closing within a week or so AND THEN the government shut down. Boom. Megan's loan was USDA and there just wasn't going to be any movement towards closing until Congress quit acting like babies and reopened the government. The sellers weren't happy of course. Probably the only reason they agreed to extend Megan's Due Diligence and Closing dates are because she had taken care of everything way in advance of her Due Diligence expiration date.
Here's the lesson...there is no profit in procrastinating once you are under contract. Had Megan not begun her Due Diligence promptly, the sellers would have been well advised to not extend and to keep the house on the active market. Other loans were closing, just not USDA and VA loans. Megan may not have been able to purchase the house she really wanted. Being under contract doesn't mean everything will proceed smoothly and closing is a slam dunk.
Congratulations Megan!
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