When Will I Find Out My Closing Date?


When Will I Find Out My Closing Date?

If you are in the process of purchasing a home, you may be wondering when the best time to close on your mortgage is. One thing I came to find out is that there is no specific approach to choosing a closing date. However, your timing will matter. 

The closing date you choose will affect your taxes, closing costs, and cash flow. Therefore, you should let these factors inform your decision. By reading this post, you will gain important information that will help you be better informed when you become involved with this big investment transaction.

What is a Closing Date and When Does it Happen?

Home purchase contracts contain a date of acceptance as well as an approximate closing date that is usually between 30 to 60 days from the date of offer acceptance. If you are buying a home, you may come across all sorts of problems if you fail to close on time. The purchase contract will be in danger, at the minimum, should you miss the closing date. In the worst-case scenario, the contract will expire if the seller refuses to extend the closing date and you most likely lose your deposit or also known as earnest money,

During the contract negotiations, the seller and the buyer set a closing date, which must be clearly shown on the purchase agreement. When the person selling the house accepts your offer and earnest money, this is when the clock starts.

You and the seller may agree on a specific closing date but however long it is, it must give the title agency and your lender enough time to do all the paper work before giving the green light for closing. Any problems with the title agency or your lender will push the closing date out several days or weeks so make sure your attend to anything that might come up to avoid closing delays.

Closing Problems that Cause Delays 

As a home buyer, you might encounter some problems along the way, but you should not panic since problems have solutions (usually) Some of the most common reasons people experience delays with regard to closing dates include:

  • Issues with Real Estate Appraisals

Most home closings involve a mortgage, which requires a real estate appraisal. You and the seller may agree on a specific price; however, the deal will not go through until you involve an appraiser. 

The property’s appraised value is essential to qualify for a mortgage since you will not be able to borrow more than a specific certain percentage of the property’s value. If the appraiser estimates that the value of the property is less than what you and sellers agrees it’s worth, the lender will side with the appraiser evaluation estimate and agrees to lend you less money forcing you to renegotiate the property value with the seller.

  • Unrealistic Deadlines

You need to understand that your purchase offer will determine the deadlines for other timeframes, such as inspections. You need such deadlines to make a rough estimate of the closing date. 

However, your agent should help you making an educated guess on the time needed to complete all pre-closing activities. Sometimes, real estate agents set deadlines to accommodate either the seller or the buyer. Ultimately, the mortgage lender will determine when the home is ready to close.

  • Differences in Closing Figures

Closing a home deal requires an exchange of capital and keys; however, the amount of money that changes hands at the date of closing is another matter altogether. If you are looking to buy a house, do not focus on the selling price only. You also need to consider prepaid property taxes and other costs that the seller may repay. 

  • Survey Discrepancies

Homeowners do improvements to their property after purchase, and such improvements may not feature in the existing survey. An outdated survey, therefore, could be inaccurate. When the real estate agent is preparing for the closing, he or she may find a discrepancy after a careful review of the survey. 

The driveway, for example, may extend onto the next property, or the fence may be too close to the driveway. Such minor issues can lead to survey discrepancies, which can delay the closing date. A home closing requires the survey to represent the present and state of the property. 

Other problems that can delay the closing date include:

  • Issues with the documents requested by the mortgage lender

  • Problems with the title search

  • Defects with the house that require repairs

  • Mortgage rejection

  • Problems at the final walk-through

  • Lack of coordination between professionals

How Long Does It Take to Close on a House? 

If you have a loan preapproval, you will be in a position to close sooner than a buyer with a loan pre-qualification. The process of preapproval simply involves the verification of certain information before you sign the purchase contract. This will move you several steps closer to closing on the house. 

Closing can happen as fast as the underwriters can review the appraisal and process the paperwork. The deal cannot go through without the underwriter’s approval, which can take two to four weeks. 

Final Thoughts 

To most home buyers, the closing process seems to be stressful and time-consuming. However, it is worth the effort and time to get everything right. You do not want to hurry and sign a deal that you will end up regretting later. You should also be wary of people who pressure you to close the deal faster. They only want their cut. They will not be around to help you in case you come across problems from a bad deal.