After months of the hunt, you’ve found your dream home – and your offer has been accepted. You are now counting down the days until you leave closing with keys in hand.
Navigating the home-buying process is a team effort – between yourself, your lender, and your realtor. Timely progress is required of all parties as they work together. It is essential to understand the process of closing your home.
Typically closing on a home takes anywhere from 30-45 days. The National Association of Realtors reports that the average time to close on a single-family home is around 43 days.
During this time, each party will complete critical activities to ensure that the home closes promptly. In this article, we’ll discuss what to expect throughout the entire closing process as well as tips on how to make sure everything goes smoothly.
Factors Affecting the Length of the Closing Process
When buying or selling a house, the journey begins with creating and signing an agreement on sales terms. From then on, it’s crucial to ensure all necessary steps are followed to smoothly move through mortgage approval proceedings until successfully transferring property ownership from seller to buyer.
Factors that impact the length of the closing process include:
- The Type of Property. Lending requirements differ from property type to property type. Depending on the type of home you are purchasing – single-family home, condominium, or townhouse – your lender will work through various requirements.
- The Type of Loan. Buyers choose from a wide array of different loans, such as FHA, VA, or USDA, in addition to conventional loans. Each loan type has additional requirements that impact how long it takes to close on a house. Your lender understands these requirements and will factor this into your timeline to close.
- The Lender’s Process. Each lender has a set process for how they move buyers toward closing. Reputable lenders will walk you through their process so that you understand what will be expected to ensure that your property closes on time.
- The Real Estate Market and Demand For Homes. Lending companies work with many home buyers. Market highs and lows can impact the time required for a home to close.
- Issues and Compliance. Your lender will be completing a large number of checks to ensure that the property is ready for closing. These include an assessment of the property’s appraised value, title defects, boundary disputes, unpaid taxes, and many more. These steps ensure that your closing proceeds as expected, with no surprises after the purchase of your Florida home.
Average Time to Close on a House
The length of time needed to close on your house in Florida can vary significantly depending on the factors listed above. The National Association of Realtors reports that the average length of time to close on a single-family home is around 43 days.
Lenders offer mortgage rate locks to guarantee borrowers’ interest rates won’t vary as long as their application details remain the same. Rate locks are typically secured for 30-60 days for standard home mortgages. The rate lock period ensures that the loan moves toward closure in a timely fashion.
Steps in the Closing Process
The mortgage closing process can be an exciting yet intimidating time for home buyers. Understanding the steps to close on your mortgage can help buyers know what to expect.
The mortgage closing process typically consists of the following steps:
Step 1: Pre-approval for a mortgage
Your mortgage lender will require you to submit an application and provide any supporting documents they need to determine your mortgage eligibility and pre-approve you for a loan.
Step 2: Making an offer and negotiating the contract
Once you have been pre-approved, you can make an offer on a house. Your real estate agent will help you negotiate the offer price until both sides have agreed on an acceptable amount.
Step 3: Appraisal of the property
Your mortgage lender will then order a property appraisal and title search to ensure that it is free of any liens or other claims.
Step 4: Underwriting and final approval of the loan
Your mortgage lender will review the appraisal and other documents to ensure everything is in order. Once all of the mortgage documents are finalized, your mortgage lender will send your documentation through underwriting and issue a closing disclosure.
Step 5: Final walk-through of the property
Before closing, you will complete a final walk-through of the property. This walk-through allows you to ensure that the property remains in the agreed-upon condition before closing.
Step 6: Signing the closing documents
On the day of closing, you will meet with your mortgage lender and any other parties involved in the transaction. You will sign all mortgage documents, and the mortgage lender will disburse funds to the seller. Once all documents are signed and money is transferred, you will own your house in Florida.
Tips for a Smooth Closing Process
Closing on a house in Florida can be stressful. Here are a few tips to make the mortgage closing process smooth:
-
- Work with a reputable lender
- Regularly communicate with all parties involved in the process
- Stay organized and submit all requested mortgage documents to your mortgage lender promptly
- Be flexible and prepared for potential delays or issues that may arise
Choosing The Right Title Agency Can Help
While the length of time to close on a house can vary, understanding the mortgage closing steps and preparing ahead of time will help you make it through with as little stress as possible. With the right team working for you (including the mortgage lender and title agency), plus a little bit of patience, you will be able to close on your dream house.
At Leading Edge Title, our goal is to provide exceptional customer service and streamlined closing solutions tailored specifically for you – making your experience stress-free and effortless. We strive to give you the best service available. To get started, contact us today.
