The Seller Wants to Change the Closing Date?

Your deal is done, buyer and seller have agreed to all terms, the down payment has been made, and the moving date is set. But your seller gets in touch requesting to change the closing date. What now?

The good news for you is that whether they want to move the date up, or push it back, the final decision is entirely yours. You’ve signed a legal document contingent on the agreed upon closing date and it is up to you how flexible you can or would like to be.

The closing date of your home sale is not an arbitrary thing. The many moving parts of a real estate transaction rely heavily on this date, the adjustment of which can have a domino effect on things such as booking movers, the selling and closing of a previous home, personal timelines like holidays or the first day of the school year, and many more.

Whether it is the seller or buyer requesting the change in closing date, the other party MUST agree to the proposed date adjustment for it to go through. If both parties cannot come together on a new date, the seller in this case must honour the original closing and make arrangements to be out on that day.

If a seller suggests a possible closing date change and you are open to the idea, but you’d like to be compensated for the inconvenience, that is something that can be negotiated through your real estate lawyer and your agent. Depending on how close to the original date the seller would like to reschedule the closing, the upset in your sale might be minimal and therefore easier to accommodate.

Courtesy of the Chestnut Park Blog