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Which Day of the Week is Best for Real Estate Closings?

Written by Posted On Tuesday, 18 July 2017 07:08
The best day of the week for closing on your new home might not be what you think. The best day of the week for closing on your new home might not be what you think.

This question is most often pondered at the time the real estate contract is signed.  Most people want to close on Friday afternoon so that they can take a half day off from work, close on their loan, and move in to their new home over the weekend.  But is that the best time to close? 

Not really. 

What happens if, for example, things turn out to be unacceptable during the walkthrough?  What happens if suddenly the lender requires additional information or underwriting needs more time? Lenders often wait until the day before or the day of closing to closely review the file, so oftentimes delays are inevitable.  Further, what day of the week is the most common for folks to leave early? Friday.  It even has a name: “Early Finish Friday.”  So if your settlement agent needs to speak to the lender, what are the odds that the loan officer/processor has left early and is unavailable?  Now closing is bumped to Monday, but who wants to move into a new home and take off from work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday? What friends are available during the week to help with a move? 

Also, most jurisdictions stop taking recordings at four in the afternoon.  On Friday, that may be even earlier.  So a Friday afternoon closing will likely not be recorded until Monday.  Ownership is in limbo until the Deed is recorded.  Yes, the seller has signed the Deed and yes, the buyer has signed the Deed of Trust, but until the documents are recorded in the local courthouse, no money can be disbursed and technically, the seller does not have to hand over the keys until recording is complete and he has his money.  Asking a seller to wait until morning is one thing—asking him to wait for three days is another.

That’s why Wednesday morning is my suggestion.  Wednesday is a great day to close on your loan.  If the inevitable happens, closing gets bumped to Wednesday afternoon or Thursday.  Schedule your movers and friends to move you in to your new home on the following weekend.  Even if things continue to go wrong, you still have Friday to close.

Wednesday is also a great day because loan officers and settlement agents can focus on your transaction on Monday and Tuesday without a weekend break to distract.  Think about the distractions on a Friday—everyone’s brain is on weekend activities, not on getting your loan closed.  If a loan officer has the choice of delaying closing until Monday or working late on Friday, what choice do you think he will make?  He’s left the building and is on his way to the beach while you’re stuck with a moving truck full of furniture and no place to put it.

So take my word for it—close on Wednesday.

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Jane Silek

Blue Ink Original is a title company that assists with both residential and commercial real estate closings, provides escrow services, and handles mortgage settlements. We've been in business since 1990 and have had zero E&O claims in that time; each of our settlement agents is a professional with an average of ten years of experience in her field.

https://www.blueinkoriginal.com/

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