Housing

Never Utter These 5 Things When Closing on a Home

Paul Ausick

Published: August 12, 2017 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 9:10 am

You’re sitting at a conference room table with your agent, the sellers of the home you are buying and their agent, just about to initial dozens of pages of documents and put your signatures on the dotted line to complete your purchase of a new home. Now is not a good time to get chatty.

By the time you get to this point you probably figure the deal is done and you can relax. But the fact is you can still say something that could delay or kill the purchase.

The experts at Realtor.com note that if a buyer says something that delays the closing, that buyer could be considered in default on a contract and there could well be financial consequences.

Remember, your mortgage lender has committed to lend you the cash, but that commitment comes with an expiration date. The interest lock you secured also has an expiration. Lose either one and you could have to pay a higher interest rate or you could lose your chance to buy the home, especially in a seller’s market.

Here are five things you don’t want to say when you’re getting ready to close the deal.

“I quit my job this morning.”

Your employment status had a lot to do with your ability to secure a mortgage. If your lender hears this for the first time at the closing, your loan could be in jeopardy.

“I can’t wait to get all the new furniture we bought.”

Revealing that you have made some major purchases might cause your lender to recheck your credit score. If that score has dipped, the interest rate you thought you had might go up.

“I can’t believe the appraisal came in $20,000 above the sales price.”

Why reveal to the seller that you got the better end of the deal? Just keep quiet and congratulate yourself on your deal-making skills.

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“I can’t wait to gut the house.”

That may be your plan, but the sellers probably have an emotional attachment to the house and saying something like this is not what they want to hear.

“Could you remove that swing set from the back yard?”

If you didn’t want the swing set you should have said something during the negotiations. A last-minute request, unless it is related to a final walk-through inspection, is not the seller’s problem.

For additional details, visit the Realtor.com website.