{"id":8250,"date":"2018-04-27T13:30:46","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T19:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virtuance.com\/?p=8250"},"modified":"2018-04-27T13:30:46","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T19:30:46","slug":"14-factors-stall-mortgage-closing-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/blog\/14-factors-stall-mortgage-closing-process\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Factors That Can Stall the Mortgage Closing Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nikki Gaskins Campbell | Source Realtor.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"14<\/a>
Photo by Virtuance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once you find your dream house and your purchase offer is accepted, you\u00a0need to get through one more step before you move in:\u00a0mortgage closing<\/a>.\u00a0The\u00a0time it takes to close on a home<\/a>\u00a0will vary from one person to the next. When everything goes right, loan closings can be completed in as little as 21 to 28 days, says Atlanta-based\u00a0real estate agent\u00a0Bruce Ailion<\/strong>.\u00a0Currently,\u00a0Ellie Mae<\/a>\u00a0reports that the average closing time for home loans is 44 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cFactors like the type of home loan or last-minute changes and requests will affect the amount of time it takes before a house becomes yours. But typically, a lender can close on a\u00a0mortgage<\/a>\u00a0in about a month,\u201d states\u00a0Andrina Valdes<\/strong>, the division president at Cornerstone Home Lending, Inc. in San Antonio, TX.<\/p>\n

\u00a0However,\u00a0not everything always goes according to plan. Issues can arise that can keep you from settling into your new\u00a0place for weeks and sometimes\u00a0months<\/em>\u00a0longer than you expected. Here are\u00a0some of the most common\u00a0snafus that can delay\u00a0the mortgage closing process.<\/div>\n
\n

1. Expensive purchases for your new home<\/h4>\n

A word of advice: Don’t make any\u00a0pricey purchases\u00a0with your credit\u00a0card before closing on your house. “This could\u00a0actually put buyers out of qualifying for their new home,\u201d\u00a0says Texas\u00a0real estate agent\u00a0Jeff Peterson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

After an offer on a house is accepted, some people may be tempted to buy\u00a0a new sofa, dining set, or another expensive piece of furniture.\u00a0But real estate experts warn that this could be disastrous. Right before closing, the mortgage lender will pull the buyer\u2019s credit to make sure nothing has changed.\u00a0A big purchase will show up, which could become an issue, because it means that the buyer is taking on more debt.<\/p>\n

2. Death of the original homeowner<\/h4>\n

If there has been a death associated with the desired property, the home may need to go through probate court first to\u00a0authenticate the former owner’s last\u00a0will\u00a0and testament.\u00a0\u201cIf that’s the case, your closing will be delayed, and there’s not much you can do about it,\u201d says\u00a0Jim Lorio<\/strong>, a Florida real estate investor. In some states, probate can take anywhere from a few months to a few years.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Homeowners association issues<\/h4>\n
<\/div>\n

If the previous homeowner has outstanding homeowner association (HOA) fees or fines, this could cause delays. In some cases, you may be able to negotiate those fees with the seller; otherwise, you will be responsible for paying them.<\/p>\n

4. Verification issues<\/h4>\n

In some instances, the borrower\u2019s landlord, mortgage company, employer, or source of down payment may not be willing to provide verification in a timely manner. Their failure to move quickly can slow you down.<\/p>\n

5. Down payment issues<\/h4>\n

There are times when the lender may require the home buyer to put more money down; this may take time, especially if the buyer lacks the extra funding.<\/p>\n

6. Lender may need additional information<\/h4>\n

In some cases, additional\u00a0info may be requested late in the process. Other times, the lender may lose a document that will need to be obtained again.<\/p>\n

7. Scheduling problems<\/h4>\n

One party\u2014whether the closing agent, attorney, title company representative, lender, buyer, or seller\u2014may not be available to meet on the closing day, which can push timelines back.<\/p>\n

8. Buyer delays<\/h4>\n

If a buyer is self-employed, sometimes additional documents are required. If the buyer has multiple sources of income, this may need to be documented and verified as well. If the buyer is getting a down payment from an unconventional source or a gift, this could also slow down the process.<\/p>\n

9. Flood insurance requirement<\/h4>\n

If your new home is in a flood zone, you may need to get flood insurance, which may require a benchmark survey. In some markets, this might take three weeks. Then, it must be reviewed by the\u00a0mortgage underwriter<\/a>\u2014aka the person who approves your loan. Flood insurance, and even homeowner’s insurance, can also sometimes be\u00a0tough to get, depending on\u00a0your past history with claims, credit, and location.<\/p>\n

10. Appraisal disparities<\/h4>\n

Before a mortgage is ever approved, the bank must first appraise the home. If the appraisal comes in low, it may take some time to renegotiate the asking price of the home.<\/p>\n

11. Title issues<\/h4>\n

In some cases, there may be a\u00a0tax lien<\/a>\u00a0against the property that needs to be resolved first, in order to move forward with the closing process.\u00a0Other times, the title may have the incorrect signature or attestation.<\/p>\n

12. Property damage<\/h4>\n

If there is any type of damage to the property, the lender may require repairs prior to closing.<\/p>\n

13. Contract disagreements<\/h4>\n

Sometimes the seller may not agree to the buyer\u2019s contract requests (like\u00a0agreeing to include<\/a>\u00a0the entire contents of the home in the deal). This can kill the transaction or require further negotiation between the agents and other parties involved.<\/p>\n

14. Foreclosure<\/h4>\n

If a homeowner is in\u00a0foreclosure<\/a>, it can take up to 10 days to get a payoff from the mortgage company, which often includes legal fees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nikki Gaskins Campbell | Source Realtor.com Once you find your dream house and your purchase offer is accepted, you\u00a0need to get through one more step before you move in:\u00a0mortgage closing.\u00a0The\u00a0time it takes to close on a home\u00a0will vary from one person to the next. When everything goes right, loan closings can be completed in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14503,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,47],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8250"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14503"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8253,"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8250\/revisions\/8253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}