9 Responses to “What does it take for a mortgage company to set a closing date on a home sell?”

1. citronge says:

   January 18, 2010 at 12:48 pm

   If you already received a “Clear to Close” from Underwriting, there should be no reason other than the fact that the buyer doesn’t have the fund to come to closing yet. As far as I am concerned you need to get with your Realtor and chew her butt to find out what is taking so long!
2. J O says:

   January 21, 2010 at 8:18 am

   At my mortgage bank we close loans in 14 days. That is what happens when you deal with inept mortgage brokers
3. SnappyKhaki says:

   January 23, 2010 at 5:39 pm

   Law. There is a set time period for a settlement usually 45 days minimum.
4. duckblindiva says:

   January 26, 2010 at 2:49 pm

   I use to do closings in an attorneys office for purchases and refis. there are a million possible reasons for the delay, but I am sure that none of them are acceptable.There is no reason why you should be waiting on the mortgage company if there is already a commitment letter. 99% of the time when I was doing closings it came down to the seller or the title company being the hold-up for the closing, not the mortgage company. I would call and seriously complain! As a seller I am sure you probably have your own deadlines regading your new residence. Your real estate agent needs to be sticking his/her neck out and bugging the heck out of someoen to get the ball on the move!
5. bianca says:

   January 29, 2010 at 1:34 am

   you,the seller decide when you want to close on your house and the buyer need to be ready for the closing. you put the closing date on your contract, right, and mortgage commitment date?
   if they need more time, they should ask for extension and if you gran them more time, they still are obligated by the time you give them. i understand ,that sometimes it is take forever to get clear to close, but you, the buyer need to be informed what is going on and make the decision to wait or not.(I’m loan officer)
   you should ask for “clear to close” , and tell them that you will cancel the transaction if they will be not ready to close and keep the earnest money. if they have clear to close- their bank will need no more than 3 business days to prepare closing documents.
6. Justin says:

   January 29, 2010 at 12:39 pm

   It’s been a week since what? The purchase agreement was signed? If so, slow down… The average purchase closing takes 14-21 days in a “perfect world”, which includes any issues with the appraisal or the title work. No news is good news, if there are serious issues I hope your banker let’s the bad news travel just as fast as the good… I would tell you to relax a little bit and look forward to moving into your new home
7. robert S says:

   January 30, 2010 at 1:13 pm

   As someone said, may be the buyer is trying to come up with all the money. A lot of times, the buyer tallys up the down payment but forgets the rest of the closing cost.

   Another posibility…if you live around the costal areas of southern US, insurance may be a problem. Getting the insurance binder to the bank has been a major headach down there. Insurance company’s are getting nervous during hurricane seasons.
8. open4one says:

   February 1, 2010 at 10:28 pm

   You should probably have an attorney for the closing, but it’s not really required.

   Thing is, everyone gets input on the closing date, and everyone thinks they are in charge, but it’s all by agreement.

   Now, a lot of things have to happen that are independent of the lender’s issuing a mortgage commitment. Some can happen before, but often do not. They include:

   The bank wants a hazard insurance binder, often to be paid a year in advance from the closing date. Borrowers often put this off, which causes delays.

   The Title Insurance company has to issue a Title Commitment, which means someone has to run a title search. These things can be done quickly, but sometimes aren’t.

   If you have a mortgage, someone (usually your attorney) has to find out how much they want to clear that mortgage and give a release.

   Sometimes buyers want to close with as little out-of-pocket as possible, which means they’d rather close on the 30th than the 2d of the month, so it reduces their prepaid interest at closing.

   And sometimes (*gasp!*) the attorneys are busy and don’t get to it right away. You can prevent this problem by having your own attorney.

   Just bear in mind that on a $200,000 house, the deal can really be as much as $800,000. There’s YOUR $200,000, then there’s the Buyer’s $200,000, then there’s your mortgage company’s $200,000, and then there’s the new lenders’ $200,000.

   When you look at it that way, it’s easy to see why the professionals want to be really careful and get it right.
9. txrealestateagent says:

   February 3, 2010 at 9:59 pm

   In Texas, this is a common problem. My experience is that when a clear to close has been issued, it should only take 3-4 days for the lender to get the necessary papers to the title company. At this point, you are at the mercy of the lender or possibly the buyers situation as someone else stated.

   If, after about 3-4 days (after you know the file is out of underwriting) the papers still have not arrived at the title company, something is wrong.

   Your real estate agent can discuss with you what the alternatives are.