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The Longest Real Estate Closing Ever?!?! Finally – Resolution!

Joshua Dorkin
2 min read

January 9, 2008 was a LONG time ago!

On that date, I went into contract with a buyer of one of my properties.

Fast forward one hundred and fourteen days later (114) – Today – And look at my joy!

WE FINALLY CLOSED!!

In that time, my buyer went through 2 mortgage brokers, 3 banks, and I think we’ve both lost more than a little bit of our hair. We’ve dealt with countless people who repeatedly lied to us about closing dates. We’ve spoken with many individuals who WOULDN’T commit to ANY closing date, despite that being the norm – isn’t it? To say that the banks and others we’ve dealt with simply toyed with our emotions, would be putting it kindly.

Throughout this horrifying experience, I did learn a few things:

  • The banks don’t want to lend out money anymore – with the government clamping down and mortgage write-offs in the high billions, it seems that banks are doing everything in their power to avoid giving out loans.
  • Loan and Mortgage Insurance Underwriters are coming up with excuses not to fund. One of the ridiculous examples of this came when we had a MI underwriter deny closing because he wanted to see photographic proof that a bathroom window could be opened. This was repeated several times over with other, equally outrageous requests.
  • Well qualified buyers with good credit, high net worth, and high incomes are no better than folks with crummy credit and no money, these days.
  • I’ve lost even more faith in the word of man. WAY too many promises to me were broken in the past 114 days to put a number on, and it just takes a little bit away from your faith in mankind.

All in all, I could write a book about this closing (and likely will), and one many times thicker about the nightmare that I faced when I owned the property. I’m beyond ecstatic that it is out of my hands and I wish the buyer all the success in the world with it — I know he’ll make it a success!

NOTE: This property was one of the ones I spoke about in A Rental Property Management SNAFU Story, and there have been quite a few nightmare situations that arose in the short time (3+ years) that I owned it.

Now . . . to take that deep breath I’ve been waiting for all these months . . . Lets just say that I REALLY Deserve a Vacation!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.