Possession After
The Transaction is Closed.
Final step in buying Real Estate
The final step in the process of buying a home is possession, the part
where you get the right to occupy the property and the prior homeowners
have moved out, leaving you finally in your new home, on time just as
you planned.
Well, usually that's the way it goes. In some cases, a seller will ask
for permission to keep the home for a length of time after the closing.
Seems harmless enough, but before making your choice there are some important
things to remember.
Sometimes just before closing, a seller asks the buyer for more time
to vacate the property, or to take care of other issues on the sale. Though
such a request may seem in order, you really must consider it cautiously.
If you choose to allow the seller to stay in the house beyond closing,
they must be made to pay rent for any extra days.
There must be a limit on the length of time the seller can stay in the
property beyond the signing of the contract, and it needs to be in written
form. A clear agreement or contract addendum between the parties containing
the specifics of the after-closing possession benefiting the seller can
be provided by the attorney or, in jurisdictions where attorneys are not
part of real estate contracts, by the escrow officer or your Realtor.
The seller may attempt to force the situation by giving you no time to
decide. If the seller announces at closing that he or she needs to stay
in the home longer, it is normally best to push back closing on the property
until the seller can vacate the premises.
Once the contract papers are signed, the property belongs to you and
is your legal responsibility. This is true even if it is still occupied
by the person who used to own it. If the seller starts a fire, you are
entirely responsible for the damage because of your standing as the legal
owner of the home. The seller will not have to pay for the damage unless
it is specified in the agreement, and even then the seller's liability
is likely to be restricted under applicable law.
Sellers who stay in possession after closing have less motivation to
take good care of the property. The closing of the transaction means that
any responsibilty for damege is yours as the buyer; what you bought, and
what they were responsible for delivering, was defined at the time of
closing. Anything that occurs to the property after closing accrues to
the buyer, independent of who is living there. So if a carpet gets torn
up or the pipes spring a leak, you will have to pay for the repair.
Another common problem with the seller retaining possession beyond closing
is that items that should remain with the home, such as air conditioning
units or light fixtures, can vanish between the closing date and final
possession of the home. Even in this case, it is the buyer who loses.
As a buyer, you take on the responsibility of an investor in the property.
It is safest to firmly insist on possession at the time of closing, or
to put off the closing until the seller has moved out and can relinquish
the keys.
Content provided by Automated Homefinder, your
Colorado home experts.
The Listing Agent, unless specifically disclosed
otherwise, represents the seller in any transaction for the sale of
a home. It is that
Agent's fiduciary duty to protect the
seller's position at all times. No matter what they tell you their
loyalty will lie with their selling clients. That is why you want an
agent with experience like Gary
Ward to represent YOUR interest as a buyers agent when buying
real estate in the Blue Ridge mountains.
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