When buyers make an offer to buy a home, one of the details listed in the offer is the anticipated closing date. Actually, in the offers used to buy homes here in the Danbury, Connecticut area, the wording is that the home will close "on or before" the chosen date.
Of course, this date can be negotiated between the buyers and sellers.
However, given the mortgage market of the past year, we have run into issues where many homes do not close as planned. The lenders are taking longer to remove conditions of the loans prior to issuing their clear to close. Or, the lenders are asking for additional paperwork at the last minute. Sometimes they will ask for additional paperwork multiple times...
As I tell my clients: It's all part of the fun of buying and selling a home!
It's stressful. Buyers want to close on their new home and move in. They may already be closing on the sale of their current home and will now need temporary housing. Or, they may be renting currently and need to give ample notice to their landlord. Sellers may need to close on their current home in order to close on their new home, or they may be relocating and want to complete the transaction before the leave the area.
One home's delay in closing can cause a domino effect of other homes not being able to close on time.
Given the current state of the mortgage market, I inform all my buyer and seller clients that we need contingency plans in place in case the home does not close on the anticipated date. The closing date is often out of our hands and back-up plans need to be in place. In addition, we all need a lot of patience and understanding. In most cases, no one wants the delays. But will have to deal with them, and together, we will deal with them.
Buying and selling homes is stressful enough. Plan for what may happen and issues that may arise will be easier to handle.
Don Fabrizio-Garcia, REALTOR
Real estate sales and appraisals
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