There’s a rush most buyers and sellers feel when they first reach that preliminary home sale agreement: Everyone’s reached a price they feel good about and all those daydreams hurry closer to reality. Wallpaper colors? Kitchen remods? Healthier bank accounts? You can almost taste it all.
And the only thing between you and the fun stuff? The critical closing date.
Buyers with conventional mortgages can expect a little more than a month between their offer’s acceptance and an official closing date. Oftentimes, both parties are hunting for a sub-30-day close, and in fact, federal law allows for as few as eight business days. Super fast, but doable.
In our experience?
20 days is plenty for a well-prepared buyer or seller. We’ve even helped many of our clients through two-week closing periods, provided they’re attentive to their emails and ready with a notary on a day’s notice.
The faster you can close, the faster you can enjoy home ownership’s peak experiences. If everyone has their ducks in a row, there’s no sense in waiting.
So why a month?
That typical time period is often what’s required to verify a number of items on the lender’s side of the fence, up to and beyond:
- Job statuses
- Bank statements
- Tax histories
- Debt profiles
- Payment track records
- Income stability
In some cases, a lender will also require a third-party appraiser to come assess the home and ensure the purchase price matches up with what’s considered a fair market value. Inspections can also influence the closing date, as any outstanding repairs could rely on both the size of the jobs and the availability of local contractors and rehabilitation specialists.
Here’s what you can control
While many of the above items are beyond your control, there are a number of places you can get your affairs in order to ensure the fastest closing period possible.
1. Have your documents ready.
We can all but guarantee you’ll need to show pay stubs, recent bank statements and tax returns, along with standard identification cards. It’s also not a bad idea to have a more rounded display of your financials at the ready—think 401k statements, investment account statements or any letters acknowledging larger cash gifts you’ve received in anticipation of the purchase.
2. Respond efficiently.
We believe it’s our job to get you closed as quickly as is responsible, and the sooner we hear from you, the sooner we can get moving. The longer emails lull in spam boxes or draft purgatory, the longer it takes our team to get the ducks in a row.
3. Trust a local lender.
At LendScout, our network of relationships throughout Charlotte means we have all the right numbers, email addresses and contact information bookmarked. We’re particularly knowledgeable in local regulations and requirements, which means we may be able to get your closing moving faster than the national brands can. Send us a note at info@lendscout-asmc.com with any questions you have about the process, and we’d be happy to share our years of experience helping clients close right here in Charlotte.
