Skittish lenders may make possession at close a thing of the past

Nancy is going to retire her job as a registered nurse when the house sells. It's been a while since Nancy and her husband sold a house and she wants to know:

• How much time will she have once we have an accepted contract until she has to move out?
• Will she have to give possession to the buyers at closing?

As a loyal worker at a local hospital, she's asking these questions because it's imperative that she gives three weeks notice.

She'd like guarantees and right now there are no guarantees.

Skittish lenders may make possession at close a thing of the past.

Generally, in this market buyers get the house at closing about 50 percent of the time.

When I explain the pros and cons to them, it goes like this:

Possession at close:

• Nice and neat for the buyers
• Anxious sellers must move out before they have their money in hand.

Possession after close:

• Good negotiating tool for buyers to get more of what they want, as it is so important to some sellers to have assurances before they pack the moving van.
• Possible issues with move-out related damages.
• Possible issues with insurance-covered damages.
• Buyers often not happy at closing- even when they've agreed to it -- because they can't immediately get into the house.

That was all before. Given the delays in getting a clear to close, I can't see suggesting that an owner vacate the house prior to closing. In certain price ranges, non-refundable earnest money might work.

The closings I've had so far this year, the buyers have felt they had the upper hand in negotiations, then underwriting took a few too many days reviewing their file. Suddenly they realize their not in control either.

What do you think?