Failure to Continue to Monitor and Follow-up

Get as PDF

The closing date indicated in a purchase and sale contract is a target date. Too many buyers, and sellers for that matter, assume that the closing will in fact take place on that date.

However, very rarely does that happen, unless someone continues to monitor and follow-up with the transaction.

This means that someone needs to make sure:

• That the appraisal gets done on time.
• That the home appraises for at least the purchase price.
• That the appraiser and lender are requiring no repairs.
• If there are repairs required to be made before closing, that an agreement is made between yourself and the seller as to who will do the repairs and who will pay for the repairs. That the repairs actually get done and are re-inspected in a timely manner.
• That a written mortgage commitment gets issued on time. Also, that any contingencies of the mortgage commitment are taken care of. A “clean” commitment has no contingencies that are not 100% sure can be cleared before or at closing.
• That the seller’s attorney has located the abstract of title, sent it out for re-dating, if that is applicable for your area, and ordered the survey, if that is applicable for your area. Check this with your buyer agent or your attorney.
• That calls are made to setup the closing time and date.
• That the closing attorney has checked with the lender to make sure the closing documents are expected on time.

Your attorney then reviews the title documents and sends a letter to the seller’s attorney with regard to any title defects they have found, so that title defects can be corrected.

Your attorney then orders title insurance and delivers the title package to your lender’s attorney.

Then the attorneys determine an actual closing time.

Sound confusing and time consuming?

You bet. And nearly every step of the way has to be monitored in order to have a closing on or near the anticipated closing date in the contract. Lots of disappointments result because no one was monitoring the entire process.

Most buyers don’t have a clue as to what is involved and therefore buyers should not be expected to bug everyone. Of course if no one else is, the buyer may have to or face not closing on time.

It isn’t good enough to call an attorney or the lender and have them say it is under control and don’t worry. Be sure you have one professional who is keeping track of the process. Your real estate agent should do this. Ask him or her what services are provided after your Purchase and Sales Agreement is signed.

The better real estate agents understand the process and monitor it closely. Make sure that your agent agrees to do this in advance. Otherwise you could be greatly disappointed.

Next; Failure to Prepare For and Foresee Problems at Closing Time