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Nothing makes Plainfield and Napervile buyers and sellers more anxious than moving day. Not only does a move from one house to another have to be perfectly choreographed, there are also a few things that can keep the transaction from even happening. 

Here are 5 things that can ruin your Plainfield or Naperville real estate closing.

1. If a buyer changes lenders midway through the approval process, there is a good chance their new financing will not be in place in time to close on the sale of your home.  It does not happen often, but buyers have been known to change lenders without even notifying their own Realtor.  Red flags for this will be delays in receiving a commitment letter from their lender, or requests for extensions for the loan commitment date, as well as asking to move the closing to a different date later more than a week after the contract has been accepted. 
   
2. The home inspection revealed damage or material defects within the time frame of the home inspection contingency. If the sales contract included a contingency for a home inspection (usually within 3-5 days of accepting the offer) and the inspection reveals defects that the buyers had been previously unaware of, either party can terminate the contract if the they are not able to come to some resolution as to how and when the repairs will be made, or what concessions will be given.
   
3. The buyers cannot get approved for a loan and the contract contains a mortgage contingency.  Even if a buyer has been pre-approved for a loan, sometimes things happen that change their ability to qualify for that loan during the process, especially in recent days.  Lenders change the criteria almost daily as a result of the sub-prime mortgage fall out, and it can even happen to people with good credit.  If a buyer finds out that their lender has denied their loan during the period of the mortgage approval contingency they will notify the sellers through their agents and they are set free from their obligation to purchase the home and their earnest money is returned. 
   
4. The buyers are short of funds to close.  After all of the numbers have been crunched a day or two before the closing all of the final numbers are delivered to both sides.  The buyers are told how much money they need to bring to the closing and the sellers are informed of how much they will net from the sale of their home.  It doesn’t happen often, but in cases where there are excessive closing costs and the buyers cash is tight, they may not have the required cash to close.  In a situation like this both parties usually know before they show up to the closing.
5. The title search revealed a “cloud on title” or a tax lien.  A cloud on title simply means that a tax or mechanic’s lien has been places on the property that must be paid before the property can be sold.  Depending on when the lien was placed on the property, the sellers title insurance may cover the cost to remove it from the title.  If it happened after the sellers purchased the property it then becomes their responsibility.

There are lots of things that can ruin your Plainfield or Naperville closing, but there are usually ways to fix them.  Patience and negotiation are two great tools to use to keep things moving forward.  If you are looking for an Illinois Realtor who knows how to get the sale of your home to the finish line, call me at 630-673-6233.  I’ve done it for every single one of my clients and I have never had a client lose a sale to a last minute closing emergency.