While there are several aspects related to the closing date that you cannot control there is one that you certainly can. By choosing the right closing date you can save a bundle of money and frustration.
When selling your home, the closing date is one of several negotiation points that you will have to agree on with your buyer. The Closing Date is the time when the ownership of your home will change hands. When creating an offer or contract, the buyer will most likely propose a closing date that is best suited for their needs. While there are several aspects related to the closing date that you may not be able to control there is one that you certainly can! When exercised correctly can save you a bundle of money and frustration. Let us begin with the circumstances where you may have little to no ability of influence.
If your buyer is financing the purchase of your property through a lender, it is important to keep in mind that most lenders cannot turn around a loan and get it through appraisal and underwriting in less than 30 days. For this reason, your closing date is likely going to be at least 30 days out. In many cases the time required could be up to 90 days.
Your buyer has already sold their existing property and already has a set closing date to vacate their home. The buyer does not qualify for bridge financing to purchase yours ahead of time. Simply put, they have no money to advance towards the purchase until their deal is closed. In this case your closing date cannot be any sooner than the closing date of your buyer’s existing property.
Your buyer has external circumstances limiting them to take possession of the home due to work or completion of schooling for their children. The circumstances above, represent the most common elements related to a proposed closing date by your potential buyer. However, the commonality in all these cases does not necessarily take into consideration the exact date of the calendar month. For more clarity, even if all the above were a factor in your sale you will still have ability to propose an extra few weeks more or few weeks less. Why is this important? Simply because choosing the optimum day of the month can save you time and money!
Tradition and/or habit, combined with busy schedules and lack of planning has encouraged closing date selection to most often fall right at the end or very beginning of a given calendar month. In fact, May 31st, June 1st, and June 30th are the most common annual closing dates of the year! These time periods represent the busiest cycles for moving companies, law offices, lenders, insurance companies, and land registries. Every of which will be involved in the closing process of your property. Moving companies will charge premium rates during these peak periods, some may not be available at all. Finding your own moving truck may not be as easy as you think unless you book months ahead of time. Legal offices may not accept anymore files and very often experience delays, while charging premium costs to boot. As far as the land registry goes, well sometimes they simply have no time to transfer the titles that day. Which means you may be renting a room at your local Day’s Inn.
By this point, the answer is simple. When choosing a closing date avoid the peak times of the month. While, you may not always have the ability to select the exact month of the calendar year, you can always choose the exact day of the calendar month. Therefore, select a date that falls at least one week before or after the beginning/end of a given month. A safe bet is always the middle 2 weeks of a given month. Last, but not least avoid Fridays. Law offices are closed on the weekends, so if there are any issues with your deal, they will stay unresolved until Monday. By doing such you will save a bundle of money and have a much more pleasant moving experience!
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