Expert: Ray Beggs - 8/6/2006

Question
we are selling our home.the buyer has signed the
contract gotten a mortgage and left a decent
deposit.we are having trouble getting them to set
a closing date.the closing date in the contract
is on or about august 16.how close to this date
can we expect to have the closing.what are the consequences if they keep delaying the closing.

Answer
Hi Allan,

Thanks for the question. Escrow's hardly ever close on time. Escrow close dates are like baby due dates...it's the only day that you can be sure it WON'T happen. The loan process, appraisal process, physical inspection process, etc. are hard to pinpoint for an exact date. I always tell my clients that the close date is our best guess, based on years of experience. I would expect that your escrow will close within 3 to 4 days of your date, if there are no unforseen problems that creep up. Here's the bottomline, you can always throw the buyers out of escrow for going over their date, but you'll have to put the home back on the market, sell it again, get into another escrow and have to worry about a close date all over again. It's usually better to just sit tight and let it all happen.

Keep on top of the escrow and the buyers lender (through your real estate agent) because if there are going to be slowdowns, it's going to come from them. My dad always said, "the squeaky wheel gets the most grease."

Good luck to you,

Ray