As a seller, you have little control over how quickly you reach your closing date. Much of the time during the process is spent waiting on the actions of the buyer and the lenders.
While you are ready to sign on the dotted line and finish the deal, there is a due diligence plan that is taking place. Some deals take longer than others.
Here are a few things that could be holding up your closing date:
Mortgage problems
Even buyers that have taken the time to get pre-approved can run into problems when trying to secure a mortgage. There are a lot of situations that come up between the first meeting with a lender and getting a final approval on a loan. While it can be incredibly frustrating, there is little that can be done to speed the process along if you are the seller.
One of the reasons that a mortgage could fall through is due to a change in the buyer’s financial situation. The ideal buyer would know not to change jobs or take on new debt when trying to buy a house, but that is not always true.
If the buyer has obtained new debt, like an auto loan, or has stopped making timely payments, it could alter their ability to be approved for a mortgage. The longer the time since the buyer was pre-approved, the more likely the chance is that something will have changed in their situation.
Contingency offer
If the buyer made an offer to you contingent on their current house being able to sell, it can hold up your process as you wait for them to sell their house. There is no guarantee as to when their house will sell. However, if a buyer has already placed an offer on your house, they will most likely be working to sell their house as quickly as possible.
Even if the offer was not made to be contingent on the sale of their house, it could still slow the process of getting to the closing date. For example, if the buyer needs to sell their house in order to have the cash needed for the requested down payment, it can throw a wrench in your deal.
What are your options?
If you get tired of waiting on the buyer to be ready to close on the house, you do have options. While you are waiting, you can continue to accept contingent offers on the house. If you have reached the point of not wanting to wait any longer, you can break your contract with the first buyer and sell to another. However, you want to keep in mind that if you back out of the deal before you have other offers available, you could end up with your house just sitting on the market again.
Once you have accepted an offer on your house, it can be frustrating to learn that the process is still just getting started. The majority of time the deal will close without a hitch, it just might take some time. If you are tired of waiting and have had others showing interest in the house, talk to your real estate agent about the possibility of backing out of your current offer.