Whether you just accepted an offer on your vacation home or had a seller accept your offer on what will be your first-ever home, you are probably very excited to get to the closing table. Buyers aren’t technically the owners of real estate until they sign the deed to the property, and sellers have no guarantee of receiving payment for the property until the buyer signs all of the paperwork and their mortgage lender funds the transaction.
A lot can go wrong between when parties negotiate a purchase agreement and when the buyers should sign the closing paperwork. What are some of the most common issues that delay or eventually cancel Florida residential real estate closing?
Financing issues
Most individual property owners rely on a mortgage to make their purchases. Unfortunately, even when someone has pre-approval for a mortgage, they may not end up getting the funding they require to close on a home.
Someone losing their job or experiencing a sudden, drastic drop in their credit score might prevent them from securing a mortgage and moving forward with the transaction.
Issues with the inspection or appraisal
Sometimes, it is not the mortgage itself but the requirements for funding that mortgage that leads to complications. Lenders typically require both appraisals and inspections before they fund a mortgage.
An appraisal helps verify that the amount paid for the property is appropriate, and an inspection can determine if the property is in safe and reasonable condition given the price requested and the terms of the mortgage. When major issues arise during the inspection or the appraisal, the sale may end up falling apart.
Problems with the property’s title
Lenders and buyers alike need to know that the seller of a piece of real estate has the right to transfer the property and that there are no other interested parties that could challenge someone’s ownership rights. Sadly, sometimes there are title issues, like old liens, that delay the process of clearing title and therefore complicate the sale.
There are many other reasons that a real estate closing may not occur as planned. Addressing the most common issues that could derail a residential real estate transaction can help you reach the closing table without any major hiccups.