How to Make Sure You’ll make it to Closing on Your Portland Real Estate
You’ve gotten your financing, your offer has been accepted and you just have to wait the few weeks until your closing date and your new Portland real estate is all yours. Nothing can go wrong, right? Wrong!
Technically nothing is likely to go wrong in that period of time, when it comes to the actual process of the property transfer. However, people often make critical mistakes that cripple their deals in that tense time right before closing. And sometimes these mistakes come from non-disclosure during the pre-approval process.
Things You Shouldn’t Do Before Closing
Buy a new car: Don’t buy a new car or any big ticket item that might flag your loan company. Your credit will be continuously under review and your Portland real estate loan can be turned down at any time up until closing, even after it was accepted. Keep that in mind when doing anything that will impact your debt-to-income ratio.
Quit or change jobs: This will also look suddenly troubling to your finance company. Don’t give them any reason to change their minds. If you really need to switch jobs, hopefully it can wait a few weeks.
Move money around: Keep things as stable as possible during the weeks before closing. There are few things that can’t wait. Even if you had planned to move to a new bank, or buy into stocks or IRAs, but were delaying it in order to get your loan in the first place, don’t jump the gun now. Wait a few more weeks.
Take new credit card offers: No matter how attractive they are, don’t accept any new credit offers. In fact, you’ll probably get a glut of junk mail or email offers for new credit cards now that you have been approved for a big loan. Don’t do it. Wait until after closing, if you have any desire to take them. Your loan company will get nervous if you suddenly have the opportunity to build a lot of debt.
There are literally hundreds of things that can go wrong, but an educated cohesive team of Realtor, Lender and Title Officer can minimize your risk exponentially. Communication between these moving parts are vital so mistakes aren’t made.
If you’re thinking of buying or selling Portland real estate, I’ll guide you step-by-step through the entire process including your successful closing. Want more articles? Subscribe to the Portland Real Estate Blog today!