Secrets to simultaneous real estate closings |
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"That's why you have to analyze all of it,"
he says. Ask yourself: What's the worst that can happen? And put
a number on it. Then consider: What's the best that can happen?
And put an estimate on that.
So which is safer -- the simultaneous closing or a staggered version?
"There's a risk no matter what you do," says Dalzell. "There's no easy way to do it."
What you can do
But there are some steps you can take.
1. Specify contract
terms. First, if you have to sell a home to buy your next
home, put that into your contract. That way, if your first
closing doesn't occur you will have the choice of whether you still
want to close on the purchase. In a market dominated by sellers,
this sort of contingency clause will rarely be accepted, but in
a buyer's market sellers will be more likely to accept this as a
condition of sale.
2. Select date
carefully. Next, put a little thought into the actual closing
date. Sometimes, buyers or sellers want to close in a specific number
of days and will pick a date without looking at a calendar -- which
can create confusion if it falls on a weekend, says Phipps. Instead,
pull out the calendar. "Set it for a date you can make things
happen," says Phipps. In case you need some missing piece of
paper or additional information, close on a weekday and don't set
it for the very end of the month. "The end of the month is
crunch time for mortgage companies, title companies and escrow companies,"
says Phipps. "Pick another day." And set it for early
in the day," he says. "Don't try to do simultaneous closings
at 3 and 5 in the afternoon."
3. Have a plan
B. If you schedule a simultaneous closing, have a backup
plan for what you do if the first closing doesn't go off as planned.
4. Be an early
bird. The real secret of any closing -- simultaneous or staggered
-- is to get as much as you can done in advance. You don't want
everything being done in the last 24 hours," says Dalzell.
"You want to back things up as far as you can." And that
includes everything from repairs and final inspections, to reading
the closing documents and negotiating moving dates. Many times a
sale is contingent on a professional home inspection. Get that out
of the way right after the offer is accepted. That way, if the inspector
finds a problem, you have time to either fix it or rework the price
well before you have to actually close. "It doesn't make sense
to create challenges close to the closing," Phipps says.
5. Line up your money. At the same time, finalize the financing, says Phipps. Then, when those two steps are complete, do the title search.
Dana Dratch is a freelance writer based in Atlanta.
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