How to Make Sure Your Home Closing Goes as Planned

After weeks of helping your clients search for that property that meets both their budget and their wants, at last you found the one!

But that’s just the start of the process. You now need to guide your clients through the home closing process to cap the financial transaction.

Your clients might think that this latter part is smooth sailing. After all, they were pre-approved for a mortgage – what could possibly go wrong now?

However, as a real estate agent, this isn’t your first time down this road, so you know that things can – and do – go wrong.

Here are some of the major stumbling blocks that can prevent a home closing from happening on time, or even from closing at all:

1. The repairs were not finished: In the offer, the sellers may be required to complete certain repairs, such as adding a railing to code or repairing a damaged roof. If the sellers do not complete these repairs on time or not at all, then the transaction can be affected either by being delayed or by falling apart entirely.
2. The house can’t actually be sold: As strange as it sounds, sometimes a property cannot be sold. This can happen if a tax lien shows up very late in the process, or even if there is a dispute among the heirs during an estate property sale. Thankfully, these situations are rare.
3. The home loan appraisal is too low: Even if the buyers and sellers agree on a price, you are still forgetting about someone else – the mortgage lender has to be happy too. If the appraisal of the home is less than the agreed upon price, the mortgage lender may not be willing to lend out enough money to complete the purchase, resulting in a non-sale.
4. There’s a change in the buyer’s finances: Part of a buyer’s qualifications in getting a mortgage involves a debt-to-income ratio.

Debt-to-income ratio:

How much debt you have when compared to your income. Essentially, you want less debt and more income.

But if, after being approved for a mortgage, the buyer changes this ratio, either by buying expensive things or even paying off debt, then the mortgage lender will need to recalculate a new debt-to-income ratio, which can delay the closing.

1. No home owner’s insurance:  Every home purchase requires some form of home owner’s insurance. Never assume that the buyer can get this insurance, or the right amount or type needed. Get your client to contact an insurance agent sooner than later, and make sure you can meet that closing deadline easily.

2. Poor paperwork: Like every transaction, both the buyer and the seller need to provide paperwork. The problem is when one or both parties don’t actually give in every piece of paperwork on time. Sure, it’s really easy to miss that one page or maybe the paperwork is stopped at someone else’s desk. But would you be happy if that is the reason why a home closing stalls or even fails? Follow up with your client to make sure the documentation is complete.

Stay on Track with Shamrock Financial

After the searching and the negotiating and the signing on the dotted line, the actual closing may seem like a slam dunk.

But there is no guarantee of that. To help ensure a smooth and seamless closing, have your clients schedule a meeting with Shamrock Financial.

We can review all of their documentation, ranging from finances to insurance to bank statements, to make sure that every point is covered completely.

Just like you, we want happy buyers and sellers, and we will go above and beyond to make that happen. Call us today, and let’s get started.