Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

One of my recent home buyers made an offer to purchase a home in Olathe Kansas and one aspect of the offer was the buyer wanting possession at closing. Possession at closing means as soon as the buyer has signed the closing documents and the loan has funded, the buyer gets the keys to the home.  But I always explain to my home buyers that some sellers are reluctant or unable to meet this request. In those instances, some sellers ask for a day or two after closing to give the buyer possession of the home. But  these negotiations were different because the listing agent informed me the seller needed SEVEN days after closing to give possession.

After spitting out my coffee, I pondered a 7-day possession date… The thought still amazes me and I don’t recall a situation where a seller asked for more than four – and I thought 4 was absurd. I asked this particular listing agent why the seller would need a week to get out of a home and whether she realized this could be a deal killer. She said it was one of the seller’s requirements at the time the home was listed and she never asked why it was important to them. Well, my buyer countered by offering one day for the seller to get out of the home after closing. The seller countered with… the same 7-day possession time-frame saying it was non-negotiable. My client pulled the offer off the table and bought another home.

It really is an interesting concept that buyers are even willing to give one or two days for a seller to get out of the home. When you buy a car, you don’t let the previous owner drive it around for a couple of days to get his stuff out of it, clean it up and deliver you the keys. But when a seller starts asking for three, four or… SEVEN days to get out of a home after closing, they’re severely limiting the pool of buyers who’ll be willing to come to the dance. Really, what home buyer is going to be willing to wait a week to take possession of the home they now own and are making payments on?

I should point out that there are some legitimate reasons why a seller would ask for a day or two to give a buyer possession of the home. Some sellers simply want to know the real estate transaction is going to close before they start packing, loading the moving vans and moving out of the home. Some others just need some time to make the transition from one home to another and get the home cleaned. The majority of sellers need to have the proceeds from the home sale to buy their next home – though with today’s technology funds can be wired from one title company to another and simultaneous closings can overcome this objection much of the time.

Here’s a relatively common time-line for a real estate closing and possession for a home seller… Monday morning: close on home sale. Monday afternoon: close on home purchase. Tuesday morning: move out of old home. Tuesday afternoon: clean vacated home. Wednesday morning: give possession to home buyer… So you can see where closing on a home but giving the seller one or two additional days to get out of the home can make sense. Giving extra time for possession is rarely needed on vacant homes. On an occupied home, sometimes a seller can get what they want in way of a possession date by giving in to other terms (price, concessions, etc.) during the contract negotiations.

Posted by Jason A. Brown