This is Part 3 of a Three Part Guide: Buying A Home In Rancho Santa Margarita The Easy Way – 14 Step Guide
Click here to read Buying A Home In Rancho Santa Margarita The Easy Way – 14 Step Guide (Part 1)
Click here to read Buying A Home In Rancho Santa Margarita The Easy Way – 14 Step Guide (Part 2)
Step 12: Don’t Plan An Extended Vacation During Your Escrow – It’s almost a joke within the real estate and mortgage industries. Buyers and borrowers always seem to have travel plans during the course of a transaction. There are potential problems if a buyer’s absence causes a delayed closing. Sales with short escrow periods must move along at brisk pace to keep up with contract commitments. Consider this example. There is a 17 day contingency period (the period in which a buyer may pull out of the contract), and the buyer is unavailable to meet with a home inspector until the 15th day. The home inspector does everyone an enormous favor and pumps out the report the following morning on day 16. With only one day left to remove the contingencies, the buyer’s options are limited. There is not enough time to schedule any other inspections that may be warranted. There is also very little time for the buyer and seller to negotiate repairs. Missing this deadline doesn’t necessarily spell out doom and gloom for the deal, but if the seller is already having second thoughts, it may provide the means for him to back out. If you must go on vacation during your escrow, provide your agent with a phone, fax and email address.
Step 13 – Don’t Wait Until The Last Minute To Put Your Funds in Escrow – Last-minute banking snafus are frequently to blame for a delayed closing. Mistakes happen. Wires are sent to the wrong place. This can be incredibly stressful for a buyer. Consider this scenario. On Thursday afternoon, a buyer calls his credit union in Texas to initiate a wire transfer for the amount due into escrow the following day. The credit union faxes him the wire transfer authorization form which he completes and faxes back. Escrow doesn’t receive confirmation of the wire prior to 5:00 pm and everyone goes home for the day. The Friday closing becomes a Monday closing and both the buyer and the seller are looking at making adjustments to their moving schedules. This can be costly if your moving company charges a rescheduling fee.
Step 14 – Plan Your Move & Schedule Your Movers – But Make A Back-Up Plan Just In Case - Hopefully your transaction will close smoothly; but if there are any last-minute sticking points (i.e. a problem with the title, the seller’s grant deed, a missing payoff demand or insurance binder) it may pay off to have a Plan B. Will you need to make arrangements for temporary housing if there is a delay? You should also talk to your movers to find out how they handle rescheduling and if they charge a rescheduling fee. If the delay is on the seller’s side, you may be able to request that the seller pay any additional fees that you incurred as a result of the delay.
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