Now that you’re in the home stretch of new homeownership, there are a few important tasks that need to be accomplished – all of which are made a little more complicated thanks to social distancing restrictions.
1. Do the Walkthrough
First, if you haven’t actually set foot in your new home, make sure you figure out a way to exercise your “property walkthrough” contingency. Unless you’ve made sight-unseen purchases before, it’s definitely a good idea to make sure that what looks good on paper and on your screen also feels good when you’re walking around in it.
2. Sign the Closing Docs
Second, you’ve actually got to sign the closing documents. Normally, this would be something you could do at a closing company with a professional closer, your Realtor, and possibly the seller of the home (and their Realtor) all present at the same time.
Since we likely won’t be gathering in small rooms for the foreseeable future, remote closings (where you are sent the paperwork and walked through the closing process via video conference) or social distance-friendly closings (taking place in parking lots, for instance) are the options. Strategize with your Realtor to understand the best option for you and your situation, and get something on the calendar early (with more moving parts to coordinate, sometimes schedules are a little more challenging, so make plans early).
3. Coordinate the Move
Finally, you can’t forget the coordination of your actual move. Moving companies are working but may be hard to come by, so as soon as your agent gives you a possession date, get on the phone and start coordinating help to make your move work.
Takeaways:
- Don’t forget to physically walk through your property prior to closing
- Make plans for a social distance-friendly process for signing closing paperwork
- Make plans with movers early (and ask your Realtor for recs!)
