Lyn, I'm confused about all the dates. Can you explain them again?
Each real estate contract (in Illinois) has a few different levels of action that need to be taken on the buyers part. I'll do the contract dates in order that buyers must follow:
5 Day Attorney Review - this gives the buyer and seller the right
to have their own perspective attorneys review the contract for their benefit. It is also 'business days' not calendar days.
5 Day Home Inspection Clause - you have the right as the buyer to perform a home inspection on the property with the inspector of your choosing. You pick the inspector, you pay for the inspector. The inspector goes through the house in an orderly fashion making sure to cover all the home's amenities. You should be there with the inspector during this time. This gives you a great opportunity to spend a great deal of time in the house getting to 'know it'. It also gives you the opportunity to actually remember everything about the house you liked on your initial walk-thru. This is also the opportune time to have 'your Mom, Dad, Aunt Edna, Grandma, your college friend, your cousin the HVAC dude' or anyone else that wants to see the home on your behalf.
7 Day Mortgage Application - Within 7 days as a buyer you must make formal loan application with a lender or it is considered breach of contract. This means you must pay your application fee or appraisal fee to the lender at this time to formally begin the process. Your mortgage pre-approval that you obtained now needs to be 'attached' to a home of your choosing.
There is a flurry of activity during the first week of purchasing a home. This is where you finally get to plop down and take an aspirin! Paperwork is in forward motion and it might seem that 'nothing is happening' but it really is. It's part of the process so let others do their jobs on your behalf.
Mortgage Commitment - this is when the paperwork with your lender must be finished and is normally 30 to 45 days after your application. Everything must be completed (job verifications, appraisal, condo certifications, survey, lots of stuff) in anticipation of the closing which is normally a week or so after this date.
Walk Thru or Right of Re-inspection - In Illinois, it is done anytime 3 days prior to closing and often times just before the close. You have the right to go thru the home again and be sure that everything is still the same as when you purchased the home.
Lyn, this is an excellent "answer" post for a pertinent real estate question! Nice job and very thorough!
Lyn I agree a very nice job. In Arkansas all our dates refer to the number of days and are not tied to business days. I not sure what a business day is anymore?
This is a great explanation - and buyers do always ask to have this discussed in more detail.
Michael: Monday thru Friday unless you're a realtor then it's every day.
Russell: Thank you, tried to explain the process so buyers won't get confused. The contract really doesn't speak english.
Lyn,
Nice summary, so many times clients need a concise explanation of what all the dates mean to them.
-Brent
Lyn - This is an excellent Q & A regarding the contract timeline/ due dates.
Great post Lyn. These are very common questions we hear everyday.
Lyn, lets hope this does get out to all those buyers, I'll save a copy too!
You provide a great source of reference here Lyn. I hope you have this in written form and provide it to all your clients ... and maybe have it on a personal website. All these dates, paired with all the dates being thrown around by a client's lender can be cause for confusion. The simpler we can make it .. and the easier that a client can refer to a prior conversation ... all the better. Bravo!
Gene