You Can’t Get A Mortgage In 21 days, Especially In November!

There is a lot of discussion around how fast you can close a loan. Especially in some of the hot urban markets like Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. They want to close on a mortgage in 21 days. A three-week close is difficult for various reasons. It may be possible in a very slow market. Is it really needed?

Too many cooks spoil the soup – someone will drop the ball

Even in the best possible situation someone else will drop the ball or delay a lender. Like a buyer, a title company, or the appraiser won’t be able to gain immediate access to the property. Or the IRS will not provide the tax transcripts we need fast enough. There are a lot of third parties that provide critical information that are out of a mortgage lender’s control. Getting a mortgage in 21 days is a no error, “drop everything” situation. And it is almost certain some party won’t be able to drop everything when they are called on to execute their role immediately.

November has too many holiday days

In November, a mortgage in 21 days is never possible. You’ll lose time due to the federal holiday for Veteran’s Day in November that many businesses close for. Then we’ll lose at least two more days Thanksgiving week. And very likely we’ll lose another half day or full day due to the fact that a lot of people are leaving town the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Losing all that time makes closing on a mortgage in 21 days impossible in November. Once we deduct time for all the days off and weekends it becomes a 17 to 18-day close!

What is realistic?

In general I would always allow for at least a 30-day close. This way your work, family and any travel plans are not put on hold or upset.

In the month of November I’d plan on a 30-day close plus at least 3 more days for the above mentioned holidays. Don’t set yourself up for possible failure and have everyone upset that you can’t make the contractually required closing date. You may even possibly suffer from some sort of financial penalty or voiding of the contract if you miss the closing date. You should plan conservatively and then move up the closing date if possible.

Conclusion

You can’t make it go faster, but you can be prepared. One thing you can do is put your mortgage loan application in well before you’re up against a deadline.