The Home Closing Process in St. Louis
After months and months of searching for the perfect St. Louis home, you’ve finally found the one you want. Your offer was accepted, and now you’re so close to your new home you can practically feel it. But exactly how close are you? Here is our guide to the home closing process in St. Louis.
The average timeframe
Home closing periods usually differ from deal to deal depending on the needs of the St. Louis buyers and sellers, but for the most part, closing periods last for about 50 days. That gives both buyers and sellers plenty of time to line up all the paperwork, agree on contingencies and follow through with loans and repairs.
Though you may be in a rush to move in, you as a buyer must do your due diligence and find out everything you can about your new St. Louis home.That means going over not only the home itself, but also the title. Problems can be lurking in both aspects of your new home, and you want to be aware of them before you sign the last document.
What slows down the closing process?
There are a few things that can slow down a St. Louis home closing process. They include:
- Funding. If the buyer has trouble getting a loan, the process will go that much slower. The best thing St. Louis buyers can do is get a pre-approved loan before making an offer. The bank will have already gone over most of the documentation, and now all that’s left will be to finalize everything. If you’re paying in cash, then this shouldn’t be an issue.
- Appraisal problems. You and the seller agreed on a price, but if the appraisal finds that the house is worth less; in this case the bank won’t give you a loan. If that happens, you and the seller need to negotiate.
- Failure to get insurance: You’ll need homeowner’s insurance before you move in. If you fail to get it you’ll slow down the whole process.
- Contingencies not met: Home inspections and other contingencies can slow down the process. Sometimes this is unavoidable.
How to jump start the closing process
To get the closing process back on track, there are a few things you can do to speed it up. First, check the title and take care of any liens attached to it. You can also have liens paid through the closing costs, so if that’s what you want to do, make sure you tell the title company.
If the home inspection turns up any repairs that need to be done, consider asking for a tax credit or a price reduction on the home, rather than having the seller make the repairs. This means you won’t have to wait for the work to be done by a contractor, and you can hire whomever you want for the project to see that it’s done right.
What’s really important is that you communicate regularly with your agent and your lender. Your agent will be in contact with the seller’s agent, so if you need to fill out paperwork or do something, then you’ll know immediately. You should also be in close contact with your lender so you can send over paperwork immediately if needed.