5 Tips To Help You Close On Your House Faster

Whether it be the inspection period, the appraisal, the loan approval process, or working with the right realtor, there are so many details that go into hitting the deadline of the closing date. Often, circumstances beyond the buyer's control result in barely making it to the closing date or extending the escrow window. The Balance notes that some buyers will even try and move into the house prior to the close date.

We get it. Buying a property is a tremendous undertaking, and we often want it to be over as soon as possible! Typically, with a conventional mortgage requiring a 20% down payment, you can expect the typical escrow to take around 30 days. However, every transaction comes with its own specific challenges, as we, the buyers, try to close as soon as possible. So, we are now going to review five tips to help you get the residence earlier than your scheduled close date.

Requesting an earlier closing date might sound like an obvious idea, but one that is too often overlooked. It is also an option some buyers don't realize they have when working with their realtor. Yes, you can request an earlier close date than the one initially agreed upon between the buyer and the seller. A purchaser looking to do this will want to have a couple of key checkpoints crossed off at this stage, such as lifted loan contingency, appraisal contingency, and inspection contingency.

Perhaps you realize that the initial closing date you agreed on is on the 13th, a number that is superstitious by many. Or the initial closing date is on a Friday, which can pose its own problems. Federal Title & Escrow Company notes that Fridays are best avoided for closing dates because they are congested days for title representatives and lenders. Additionally, it means that you may not physically record until the following Monday. Or, if something does go wrong and the closing date needs to be pushed, it is not getting addressed until Monday. Whatever the reason is, simply asking for an agreed-upon amendment to the contract between the buyer and seller is the easiest, literal way to ensure an early close.

Let's say you stumble upon a beautiful, historic home. It was built in the 1920s and has wonderful bones, but it is unclear what the internal condition of the property is. Often, an MLS listing of this kind will feature pre-inspections and disclosures about the updates and internal conditions of the property. Home Bay notes that pre-inspections are worth a closer look in the interests of buyers and sellers, as these can enable you to close early and avoid certain negotiations altogether.

By reading these in advance, a client can write an offer knowing the amount of money and work needed to get the house back up standing. When considered in conjunction with the traditional inspections, the purchaser will likely have already accounted for a majority of the items that come up in the inspection. After recording the outstanding inspection items, whether they be via credit or repair, you will likely be able to lift the contingency much quicker and increase your chances of closing early.

Most buyers will only get pre-qualified when presenting their preliminary financial materials with a purchase offer. The pre-qualifying stage is much more general and allows a lender to give you a general picture of what kind of house you can afford. This includes sharing how much money you make, any of those pesky student loans you still have, and the capital saved for a down payment. However, a lot of buyers don't realize that they can actually get a fully underwritten pre-approval prior to purchasing a house, as noted by HomeLight.

Pre-approval is the second step after the pre-qualifying stage. This involves more formal paperwork, such as tax returns, proof of funds, bank statements, and other personal details, to further legitimize your loan application. And after that comes the underwritten pre-approval. By having this fully underwritten pre-approval, you can lift the loan contingency much earlier and allow you to close even sooner than a typical 30-day escrow.

Emails, texts, calls — expect your phone and email to be blowing up during the escrow process. Escrow and title are expecting answers, and it is your diligence to work with a great realtor to get those answers as soon as possible. Thankfully, with various online tools, signatures have become a much more streamlined process during this process. At this point, it can really be knocked out in a couple of hours, but make sure to check your email and calls every morning. Unsure about a document? Call your realtor immediately so that they can guide you in the right direction.

Ticor Title notes that there are nearly 20 vital communication topics throughout the escrow process. These include steps such as reviewing the preliminary title report, confirming the purchase price, as well as notifying parties when funds have landed in escrow. By staying on top of all of these matters, you will allow breathing room towards the tail end of the period. This breathing room will increase your likelihood of being able to close early.

Foundation issues, mold concerns, vent cleans, window replacements — repair requests can go a number of different ways and cause several different problems. When it comes to this part of escrow, it is wise to approach this process in the same way as how we discussed pre-inspections. Have realistic expectations, keep complaints to a minimum, and anything that you can take care of yourself that fits within your budget should be handled accordingly.

Home Bay notes that buyers should now expect reasonable repair requests to be amended by a seller; however, it is important to have realistic expectations as to how these requests are handled. Requesting a buyer's credit rather than physical repairs being handled is a critical move here. This just means that you ask for money at the close of escrow to handle that hole in the floor or the broken HVAC rather than getting it repaired prior to moving in.