Moving with Tight Timelines

Had another great question today; We are buying a home and the scheduled closing date is the 30th. We also have to be completely out of our apartment that day. We know there are some potential complications with our purchase, what can we do?

It is not uncommon to get into these tight closings time lines, especially when there are special circumstances such as unique mortgage programs involved, short sale, foreclosure, out of state seller etc. Not to be an alarmist but if anything doesn’t go just right, it can slip the timeline.

Some things I recommend when you know the timeline is tight… make sure your work schedule is flexible so that as soon as your loan docs are at escrow and ready to sign, you can head right over. Since the documents have to be transmitted back to your bank for a review after you sign, every hour can make a difference. Communicate with your loan officer to see if they anticipate the mortgage company making any last minute requests of you or of anyone that you can help expedite. Example; if the mortgage company has a policy of contacting HR departments right before issuing documents to confirm your employment is unchanged, you can help make sure they have the right contact info and then from your side, maybe give HR a heads up to be watching for that. If HR lets a voicemail sit from a Friday afternoon to mid-morning Monday, that can be enough to cause a delayed closing.

Logistically, be as organized and prepared as possible and have a backup plan. If you have to be out of your current place on a certain day, have a contingency plan in place just in case (have all your stuff in a moving van that you could rent for an extra day or so if it became necessary) and know who’s couch you would crash on in an emergency. Consider contacting the utility companies for your new place in advance to arrange transfer of utilities for the scheduled closing date. Best to try to do this before current homeowner completes the disconnection of service because there are often reconnect fees and delays involved after disconnects. So a transfer of utilities (even if you end up paying a day or two that you didn’t own the house due to a late close) is often cheaper than setup/reconnect fees.

Lastly, make a proactive effort to stay cool and calm. Keep in mind your best stress management mechanisms. Moving can be extremely stressful when time lines are down to the wire. If chocolate or wine helps, have some nearby! Whatever it takes…

Also know that sometimes escrow and lenders do their best work in a crunch so making things happen at the last second is not out of the question. Though your real estate agent has no control at this point in the game, they are usually great at managing communication between all parties and helping problem solve as things come up.