Can You Change a St. Louis Closing Date?
At time, buying a St. Louis house can feel like a never ending process. While some St. Louis buyers try to expedite the process there are others who would prefer to proceed slowly, learning all they can before making any final decisions. Either way, a St. Louis buyer or a seller may ask to move a closing date.
While there are some St. Louis contracts do not allow for a change in the closing date, there are some situations where making an adjustment is permissible. Read below to learn more about changing a St. Louis closing date.
Reasons for Changing a St. Louis Closing Date
In most situations, a St. Louis buyer or a seller is not able to make it to closing on a certain day. Be it for work obligations or family duties, there are reasons that they are not able to meet. In situations like this, it is possible to change the closing date by a few days to fit into both parties’ schedules.
A few other common reasons to adjust the changing date revolve around a St. Louis home inspection or an appraisal. For example, if the St. Louis home inspection found a major problem with the house the buyer may want to hold off until the issues are resolved or the purchase price is negotiated.
When it comes to an appraisal, if a St. Louis house is not valued as high as the seller had hoped there will be ramification. This situation can be a big problem if the buyer’s lender will not finance a loan on a house that is not worth as much as the proposed mortgage. A common resolution for this situation is to increase the down payment. This can help improve the terms should the buyer really want to proceed with the purchase.
A St. Louis real estate transaction involves a number of people outside of just the buyer and seller/ For this reason it is common for the buyer and seller are able to agree on a date but the date does not work for everyone.
Lastly, a title company will need to be used to finalize the sale. The employees of this company will search the title to make sure the seller does not have any liens or debts that are tied to the property. If any of these charges are found the seller must dispute them or pay them off, which can delay the closing date.
Steps for Adjusting the Closing Date
The first step is to carefully go through the contract. Most buyers and sellers will be best served to work with a professional in order to correctly understand the process of changing the closing date according to the guidelines of the contract. Typically, contracts will have a clause that says the closing date is set unless the new date is agreed on. As long as the other party is flexible, this language does leave some room for adjustments.
Again, while the seller and the buyer are important participants in in the closing process they are not the only ones that need to be notified of changes. The title company, the lenders involved, and any attorneys who will attend closing will have to approve a date change as well.
A Missed Closing Date
If the St. Louis buyer or seller cannot close by the date that was originally set, the other party is able to reject or withdraw their offer. It is also possible that the lender will give penalties for changing the closing date. Some lenders will offer a rate lock which will allow a person to have a certain interest rate, but the buyer must close before the offer is expired. If the buyer does not close before that date their interest rate may change.
Changing a closing date can also impact the taxes involved. Taxes will be prorated with the date of purchase in mind. With a later closing date, less taxes could be included. An earlier closing date could cause the taxes to be higher.
No matter the reason, it is common for St. Louis buyers and sellers to need to change a closing date. It is understood that all parties have their own lives and schedules that they must account for. When a scheduling conflict comes up or a problem with an appraisal or St. Louis home inspection arises the closing date may need to be changed. Most contracts will allow for this change, but it is important to check the contract first so as to not be in violation of any agreements.