When it comes to buying your new home, that last thing that you would want to have happen is for the closing to be delayed. Just a little slip-up can delay closing for days or even weeks in many cases.
There’s good news, however - most of the mistakes that delay closing on a house are absolutely avoidable. However, you’ll need to know what mistakes exist in the first place before avoiding them.
To help you avoid your closing getting pushed, here are the top mistakes that homebuyers make.
Mistaking a Pre-approval for a Full Approval
This is one common mistake a lot of people make that can delay closing. You need to realize that a pre-approval doesn’t necessarily mean that your loan will be approved. Even a very minor change during the loan approval process can delay the closing or can even cause a loan denial altogether.
Some of the common factors that can affect loan approval include:
· Changing or quitting jobs
· Changes to debt
· Changes in income
· Changes to credit.
Most times, buyers fail to realize that something as simple as changing a job can hurt their chances of getting loan approval. If you do not want the closing to be delayed as a result of loan approval issues, then you’ll need to contact your loan officers before making changes to any of the items listed above.
Not Getting Paperwork To Your Lender in Due Time
Something as simple as not getting paperwork turned in on time can significantly delay closing on your home. When applying for a loan, it is not uncommon to see buyers failing to provide the proper documentation to their lenders. They fail to realize that a lender wouldn’t be able to issue final loan approval until the documentation is complete.
When buying a home, you need to provide every required document to your lender on time. This gives them ample time to review the documents before closing. It also means that you’ll have sufficient time to provide any additional documents that may be needed subsequently. So, despite the exhausting nature, you should make efforts to provide updated paperwork to your lender.
Miscommunications Between Real Estate Agents and Lender
Another common mistake that can cause of delay is a miscommunication between the real estate agent and the lender. Even the slightest change in price can affect appraisals. Therefore, it’s important to stay in constant communication with both your real estate agent and your mortgage advisor.
Without these people working in agreement, there’ll often be no progress, as it can lead to critical miscommunication. It is essential to communicate vital information like price change to each party in a language they’ll understand.
Non-completion of Repairs
The last problem that could cause closing delays are repairs not getting completed on time. All repairs should be completed prior to closing on the home and it's important to do a final walk-through of the house just before arriving at the closing table.
You’ll find that there are times when repairs could take longer than projected, so it's important to stay in contact with the seller's agent to ensure that they're being tended to.
When it comes to closing, you should know that even the simplest mistake can cause delays. As such, it is vital to watch out for everything that can go wrong and attempt fixing them beforehand.