4 Proven Ways to Breeze Through the Closing Process

Whether you’re helping someone buy or sell a home, the closing period of the real estate journey can be the most agonizing part of the entire process. It seems all the right stars have to align to have a smooth closing period, and after weeks of searching for the perfect home, the last thing you or your client want to hear is that there is a hiccup in the closing process.

Receiving an offer acceptance may seem like the end of the road; however, as real estate professionals know, the hard work and waiting have just begun. It takes an average of 50 days to close a home, and it can be longer if you don’t keep track of all the moving parts.

The following are tips to help you effectively shorten the escrow period and seamlessly get your client into their dream home faster.

1. Have the paperwork ready. With our real estate transaction management software, you can group blank forms into packages, which can serve as templates for particular types of transactions. Residential Sale, for example. Create your packages ahead of time, so that when your client is ready, all the forms you need are preselected and you can easily and quickly prepare their transactions.
2. Ensure clients get pre-approved for loans. If you know the home-purchasing plan includes a mortgage from the start, make sure your client has their pre-approval letter before they begin their home search. This allows you and the home buyer to know how much the lender is willing to give, and can also uncover any issues that could potentially delay the escrow process down the line. In addition to giving home buyers a realistic target price, getting pre-approved for a loan can shave as much as 7 days off the escrow period.
3. Remind your clients not to jeopardize their credit. Remind them to steer clear of anything that will put their credit on the line if they want their closing process to be as smooth as possible. This includes quitting their job, applying for credit cards of any amount, and acquiring other equally large purchases. Jeopardizing their credit could cause them to no longer qualify for their mortgage, leaving them scrambling to find another way to finance the home.
4. Make the signing ceremony stress-free.  A frequent problem home buyers run into when they’re nearing their closing date is not having signed or initialed their documents in all the locations needed. The home closing process is riddled with dotted lines and missing just one can cause a setback in the already-lengthy closing time. Using eSignature services like Form Simplicity’s eSign can save you or your client a last-minute trip to get a missing signature or initial, helping you save as much as 25 percent on closing time. Form Simplicity’s eSign leads the clients field-by-field to ensure all fields are completed. The session won’t be complete until the client has properly filled out the forms, so you don’t need to worry about incomplete documents. And with pre-templated forms, you won’t need to spend time dragging and dropping signature fields — they’ll be ready to be signed.

The escrow period is long enough without overlooked details sneaking up on you. Make sure you are ahead by digitally managing the documents.

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