Newport Beach Homes – Harbor Realty

The final part of any property sale is the completion or closing; this is often a confusing process for the buyer and seller alike. If you have employed the services of a professional Newport Beach Realtor, they will remove much of the headache and make the entire completion process as painless as possible.

Closing is a word that is used to define the final part of the entire chain of events that has lead to the successful sale of a property in Orange County. Closing will be scheduled for a specific day, and on this day your property will change hands.

Funds will be exchanged, contracts will be signed and keys will be handed over, this is the final process that sees you saying goodbye to your old home and taking hold of your new home in Orange County. Usually the funds will have been deposited into an escrow service, and your agent or Newport Beach Realtor would have taken care of the specifics.

On day of closing you will also need to physically move out of your home if you are the seller, this means arranging with a moving company to have your goods picked up and moved to your new house, or moved into storage if you have yet to complete closing on your new Orange County home.

In the past, closing day was a stressful time, when both parties carried concerns over the deal going bad at the last minute. These days there are very few problems with the closing of a sale; problems can be further reduced by employing the services of a Newport Beach Realtor to handle most aspects for you.

Escrow is a service that is designed to protect both parties in a transaction. Funding is placed with an impartial party and held ready for the actual contract completion.

Unfortunately, escrow can fall through for a variety of reasons. The main reason escrow will fail is due to the purchaser not being able to acquire the required funding. Usually this means that their pre-approved mortgage loan has actually been turned down at the last stage, usually because of undisclosed financial situations resulting in their inability to purchase the property. In years past… many buyers were able to push through even with serious financial failings. In fact, as you likely already know… many buyers were able to secure funding without even proving their financial status. However, times have changed and lenders rules are much more stringent.

The second reason that escrow may fall through is because of property inspections. The home inspection may provide a negative indication such as termite infestation, termite damage, or mold. In such cases escrow does not always fall through but it can if both parties are unable to reach an agreement on the final purchase price.

To minimize the risk of your escrow transactions becoming a problem, you should employ an Orange County Realtor from Harbor Realty to ensure that all your i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed . Something as simple as a typing error on a title deed can cause escrow to fall through, employing somebody to take care of these minute details is a good idea.

A few weeks ago we talked about property inspections. Is a property inspection really necessary? As a seller, no. But any informed buyer will require an inspection of your Newport Beach home. If you were buying a used car, would you look at it from across the lot and decide you liked the color, then hand over the cash? Of course not! You would check the car over before making your purchase. A house is far more valuable than a used car; it would not serve any buyer well to consider buying one without having it checked over by professional inspectors.

As we previously discussed, a property inspection will check the structural integrity of the building, it will also check for potential problems such as mold, rot, or termites. Cosmetic issues will not form part of the survey as they are deemed non-threatening to the property.

Of course, not all inspection results will be negative. You may well find positive aspects highlighted, such as certain materials used which make the house easy to maintain, or parts of the construction which are completed to an exceptionally high standard. A survey is not always doom and gloom.

A good survey can also act as a maintenance route map, giving you an overall idea of the state of your home, allowing you to plan repairs and improvements better, by having a good idea of the importance of each.
Buying a property without an inspection would be a foolish act; you need to know that you are purchasing something that is basically sound before you invest your hard earned money.

If you are selling your Newport Beach property, then you can expect that potential purchasers will want to undertake a variety of inspections and checks, to ensure that everything is ok and there are no problems with your home before they purchase. In many ways you are a spectator, as the inspection will be arranged by the purchaser. Harbor Realty can liaise with the purchaser’s agent to arrange inspection times and dates on your behalf.

Inspections will cover a whole range of things; there will no doubt be a full structural survey which will check that the house is basically sound, including all weight bearing beams and joists along with the foundations and roof. If your house has a large amount of wood used as a construction material, then you can expect the buyer to commission a survey for rot and termite infestation as well. Almost all purchasers will want to undertake a mold and moisture survey, especially if you are in a coastal location. Keep these things in mind when you buy your next home as well!

An inspection is not usually intended to make assessments about the cosmetics of a property. If your walls need painting, for example, this will not be indicated in an inspection of your home as it is deemed cosmetic and does not threaten the structure in any way.

Quite often the buyer will be willing to share the full results of the inspection with you, so that you may decide if you wish to make repairs to increase the final sale price of your home.