Ron’s Top 10 Reasons Not To:
Close on the Day You Plan to Move
or
The Last Day of the Month
or
The Last Friday of the Month

10) You discover a walk-thru item the morning of closing, but the Seller can’t be reached to negotiate a remedy.

9) Seller’s settlement agent doesn’t receive executed deed from seller

8) Termite report was not done on proper form, so Lender will not authorize closing.

7) Buyer wants to escrow money until an item is repaired, but the Seller can’t be reached for a response to your request.

6) Buyer is using the proceeds from the house he/she is selling on the same day of his/her purchase, and his/her sale is delayed for any of the reasons on this list.

5) Lender doesn’t have your loan cleared to close.

4) Lender’s wire is delayed.

3) Sellers haven’t removed all their belongings from the house.

2) Repairs required under the contract have not been completed.

1) If any of the above prevents the deed from getting recorded by 4pm, you don’t own the property that day.  If you don’t own it then most likely you can’t get keys and move in.

Every one of these items has happened at least once to Court Square Title, and probably to every other settlement provider.  Often, due to these complications, the Buyer is not allowed to move in on closing day, resulting in hotel and furniture storage issues, leaving everyone upset.

In a perfect world, the whole settlement process would run more precisely, but given the system we have, many items arrive (or don’t arrive) on the morning of settlement, so often there’s no time to correct problems without affecting the closing.  I recommend allowing a two-day cushion when possible.  Buying and moving into a new house is stressful enough; hopefully by following this suggestion you will avoid one of the biggest headaches.

-Ron

Please Note: Articles written by CST employees are the opinions of licensed title insurance agents and are based on experience as such.  They are not to be taken as legal advice.