While terms of the federal homebuyer tax credit originally required a signed contract by April 30 and closing by June 30, Congress has extended the closing date to September 30 but hasn’t extended the April 30 signed contract date to qualify for the $8,000 credit.
∙ Senate Approves First-Time (And Move-Up) Homebuyer Tax Credits [SocketSite]
Is it normal for a mortgage to take 5 months to close? Even two or three months?
@questions:
“Is it normal for a mortgage to take 5 months to close? Even two or three months?”
No. But if the buyer’s financing falls through because they can’t get approved, and the sellers can’t find another buyer, the sellers may grant extension after extension on the increasingly slim hope that some bank will approve the “buyers.”
Short sales, of which there are a lot these days, can take several months to close. Also move-ups, with a condition that the buyer sell his old place first, can take a while to close.
In addition to the reasons mentioned above, (1) there were buyers (admittedly a small share of the market) waiting for Congress to renew the National Flood Insurance Program, and (2) there are several big lenders that are simply lousy at processing mortgages.
FHA loans take forever.