Pick your real estate dates carefully
When you sit down and put together your real estate plan, selecting specific dates will be as critical as determining an offer price.
For starters… business days might include Saturdays and it’s also smart to check the Courthouse calender.
So, you’re a home buyer
- Settlement Date
- Contract Date
- Contingency Dates
- Ratification Date
Starting out with the end in mind is essential. Maybe your moving date is determined by an expiring lease or a relocation, then it is critical to your offer that the seller agrees in the contract that on a specific date the home becomes yours.
Typical in the Northern Virginia real estate market, the Settlement Date is 45 days from the contract date. And that’s the day ownership changes hands.
If you and the Seller can agree on an earlier date or a later date then it will become part of the contract. Understanding that date, up front, may give you a competitive advantage.
Contingency dates start when the contract is ratified by all parties. These are outlined in your contract and might include seven days for a Home Inspections and twenty one days for an Appraisal.
Although the Ratification date may sound obvious, it means that all terms have been agreed to ( have the Ratification date written on the contract) and the contingency periods mentioned above start ticking.
So, you’re a home seller
- Settlement Date
- Ratification Date
- Moving Date
- Contingency Dates
Starting with the end in mind is essential. Sellers must have a place to move to and know when that can happen before a for-sale yard hits the front yard.
I always ask where my clients are moving and when because, if a full-priced offer comes in that wants to settle in thirty days, well, then they will need to be out of the property. Understanding your moving date and letting people know upfront can help you get the ideal offer quickly.
Know your ideal moving date.
The sales contract we use in Northern Virginia states specifically that the Seller will be out of the house on the Settlement date unless mutually agreed upon and also approved by the lender. A lender may decide that the owner is staying too long post settlement and then not approve the specified financing.
Sellers need to know when Contingency dates expire and what the implications are for each date. Consult your agent on that topic.
Dates give Structure
For example, when clients decided to buy a new house in Vienna I contacted the listing agent. One of my first questions was asking when the sellers preferred to move?
The answer isn’t as obvious as you would expect because sellers may think their home won’t get an offer for a month or two, and then they will have sixty days after a contract is ratified to move.
Yikes!
If it is January 2015 and the seller doesn’t want to move until May, well then they are limiting their buyer pool. Any home buyer who needs to be in by the end of March is out of luck.
On the other hand, if the buyers have some flexibility then this information is critical to the ultimate success of their offer.
Real estate dates are so important to be on top of, especially when you are handcrafting your offer or tailoring a counter offer.
Take control. Take control.
