Thirty Day Closing

by Darrin DeRoches July 3 - 9, 2014

The market is moving very fast and this week I spoke to two different sellers who have thirty days to close their property and move on. Where are they going to go? The first seller sold their home by themselves and figured they could do it without an agent. They received an offer from someone who had to sell their present home and waited for months to see if the deal could come together. Last week they had a second offer to close the home in thirty days. They were very stressed and had to figure out who was going to buy the property, when, for how much and most importantly, if they took the second offer with a quick closing – where were they going to go?     As a broker I would have handled the whole deal in a different manner and dealt with all of those issues. The property is listed for $589,000, when it is worth over $630,000, and they would have had more offers – especially in this market – if they used a broker who would have marketed it and had a lot more exposure. This alone would have brought better offers and a higher price. They went with the quick closing and lower price and now have to find a place to live temporarily as they wait on their next move. Again, we could have arranged a better time frame to align their move and dealt with other agents to accommodate the right terms etc.     The second seller is a guy who split with his common law girlfriend who sold their property and now have thirty days to close. His situation is a lot simpler as he will just pack his bags and couch surf until his next move. This situation happens all the time. It seems men just want to “get out” of a situation and have no real need to make the next move. Then they realize it is time to buy another property as they do not want to rent forever. Once the deal is closed and they have the money figured out and a big cheque gets deposited in their bank, then they want to buy. Even though they know the money is coming they usually do not want to make the move until they actually have the cheque in their hand. Then we get the call to buy and buy something quick.     The market is still moving fast and you have to have a game plan to deal with it. This time of the year is when thirty day closing happens more often as people want to take the summer to make the switch and get into a new property before school starts. Think ahead and communicate your plan with your agent. Time and money are what most deals come down to so being prepared will bring the best results. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at sold@uniquerealty.ca.