Making An Offer On An Atlanta Georgia Home For Sale: Closing Date
Selecting a Closing Date When Making an Offer
As we continue to look at the nuts and bolts of making an offer to purchase an Atlanta Georgia home for sale, we turn to the closing date written in to the contract.
In particular:
What are realistic requests for a closing date for offers written on Atlanta Georgia homes for sale?
45 days for the Closing Date. That is golden “go to” closing date number right now in Atlanta Georgia real estate contracts. 45 days allows adequate time for the buyer to
- Perform an inspection of the property (best done by a qualified home inspector by the way)
- Request repairs be made (best completed with an amendment to the contract)
- Obtain an appraisal on the property for financing (more on appraisal deadlines in a later post)
- Complete the mortgage loan underwriting process.
All the above can be completed in less than 45 days when working with a responsive local lender. If you are working with USAA, Quicken, or any other large and primarily “online” lender – “Forgetaboutit”. Not going to happen.
If you want to close in fewer than 45 days, go for it. 45 days is the outside boundary for a closing time. You have up to 45 days to close.
What if you want to close in later than 45 days. Most agents and sellers start to get nervous when closing dates are extended out further than 45 days.
Up to 60 days: expect to put down a larger earnest money payment. Have all the “contingenicies” finished in 30 days. Then you are just waiting to close.
Beyond 6o days: Non-refundable earnest money and lots of it will be required by most sellers and listing agents if you need to close further out than 60 days. Expect to put up to 10% of the purchase price in the form of a non-refundable earnest money escrow.
Each situation is different but this is a fair perspective on how things are working “today” in the Atlanta Georgia real estate market.