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I've always taken possession at closing. However, on my last sale the closing was Wednesday and the moving trucks came on Thursday. The furniture was gone and I'd cleaned up before the buyer got home from work. I left the back door unlocked and the keys in the kitchen drawer. No biggie.
But that was one day, not two weeks. If I were the buyer, I wouldn't go for it.
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Originally Posted by twingles
You know you're moving. Start packing. There's really no excuse to need 2 weeks to pack.
You are kidding?? Would you agree to that in your newly bought home? I think you should rent storage, or anything else that will get your home vacant on closing. You don't want to be paying for two houses, but you want the buyer to pay for two??
Oh come on - why would the buyer have to pay for two houses?
It's very common for a moving van to store stuff for a day or two and wait for the property to be cleaned out. And VERY common in cross country moves as well. It can take DAYS for stuff to get from point A to point B. Also, you're assuming that the buyer is renting and has to pay another month's rent - why would that be the case? Just schedule the closing for mid month and let the buyer move out over a period of a few days (very easy with a local move).
Keep in mind that it may also be in the BUYERS' best interests not to move out till the sale closes - in other words, not to even start packing things up.
My advice is generally - start packing up little stuff and get ready to move. Clean out drawers, closets, storage buildings, etc and pack some breakables on up before closing - but don't start hauling furniture out of the house till closing. You never, never know exactly what is going to happen or what sort of delays there may be - which is ANOTHER reason why buyers and sellers should avoid closings the last week of the month.
I've always taken possession at closing. However, on my last sale the closing was Wednesday and the moving trucks came on Thursday. The furniture was gone and I'd cleaned up before the buyer got home from work. I left the back door unlocked and the keys in the kitchen drawer. No biggie.
But that was one day, not two weeks. If I were the buyer, I wouldn't go for it.
Exactly.
We're not necessarily talking about TWO WEEKS. The vast majority of closings I've handled where the seller needed a few extra days were only situations involving two or three days.
However, I've had closings where the seller rented their own house back for up to 4 months - and it was mutually beneficial all the way around for everyone involved.
When buyers and sellers want to make a deal work, things generally get worked out.
It's not a good idea to be adamant one way or the other about seller leasebacks. One of my maxims I live my life by is this - "Never unnecessarily limit your options." Seller leasebacks in and of themselves are not morally wrong or morally right - each case is different.
The point was the thread was asking if this is common. Clearly this wasn't already part of their contract, or they wouldn't need to ask.
No, that's not clear. Real estate contracts are complex. It's very typical for buyers and sellers to need to have things explained to them several times as the contract plays out, including at the closing table - and even in the days that follow sometimes.
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And, judging from the responses it is not common.
No, judging by the responses, it's common in some areas, and uncommon in other areas. And perhaps some of the people responding have never bought a home, or have only bought a few so far - and for whatever reasons the topic didn't come up, or they refused to consider it as an option, or whatever. In other words, in their limited real estate transactions, it didn't happen.
That doesn't mean that seller leasebacks don't happen, or are uncommon, in their particular market - it just means they haven't personally dealt with one or allowed that to be a part of their contract(s).
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I have been buyer and seller multiple times. I've neither bought or sold an occupied home. That's like buying a car and letting the previous owner keep driving it. Too many variables. If you are at the point of sale, signing the closing papers your move should have already occurred....If there is inconvenience it shouldn't be on the one spending the money buying your home. imo
Well, if we're swapping personal anecdotes (which really don't prove anything but can be interesting), then I will tell you that I have been a buyer and seller multiple times, and EVERY time that I've bought a home that the seller was living in prior to the sale, we included a seller leaseback agreement. Also, everytime I've sold a house I was living in, we included a seller leaseback agreement. Actually no money ever swapped hands because we only allowed 2-3 days on either end and all parties were in complete agreement, with no anxiety and no argument about the contract.
It worked (as is very common in this area) because all parties were reasonable and cooperative and were willing to work together to facilitate a friendly, mutually beneficial transaction.
Again, thanks all for your help. I think I have my answer, "it depends" apparently is the answer. Maybe 2 weeks is a bit much, but it will definitely take more than a couple days and is far more complicated than the average move for reasons I won't go into. At any rate we'll work it through when we get an offer. Thanks all.
Planning an out of state move and will soon be listing our home. Our property is large and we have a ton of stuff to pack and move. In order to avoid having a situation where we are paying for 2 houses simultaneously, we were going to ask for 1-2 weeks seller possession after closing to give us time to move out. Is this pretty common? I haven't sold many homes over the years, and this is my first long distance move, so I hope this doesn't sound too strange. We're just spooked about having the closing go south after we've already moved out.
Seems to me it would be much cleaner to just negotiate an extended escrow for 2 weeks. Then you avoid any insurance and legal issues.
Well, we're moving like 2 semi trucks of stuff, 3 cars and 4 motorcycles to go 2 thousand miles, in addition to driving all that way with 3 dogs and an 85 year old. Nothing goes into the truck until escrow closes, that's our bottom line. Somehow we'll work it out.
I would think it is quite territorial. I don't like the concept and have dealt only with one in recent years and that one blew up in everyones face. That incident would suggest one thing to the sellers. Make it clear up front that you require a leaseback as part of the deal. Our leaseback deal lead to a set of cascading issues that sunk the entire deal. So a cash deal for a relatively expensive house ended up in the trash pile with bad feelings all around.
Well, we're moving like 2 semi trucks of stuff, 3 cars and 4 motorcycles to go 2 thousand miles, in addition to driving all that way with 3 dogs and an 85 year old. Nothing goes into the truck until escrow closes, that's our bottom line. Somehow we'll work it out.
Good luck. Hopefully you don't scare away too many buyers.
Good luck. Hopefully you don't scare away too many buyers.
In most cases, if people want a house badly enough, they are willing to work around minor inconveniences. There are all sorts of ways to accommodate a leaseback or short move out period where no harm is done to either party and it works out best for all involved.
It simply doesn't have to be a big deal.
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