Hurricane Sandy and Your Mortgage Application

While much of the Northeast begins to sort through the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, those home buyers and sellers that are in the later stages of a real estate transaction have one other issue to worry about due to Hurricane Sandy. This would be the effects of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts declaring a Federal Emergency.

What does The Federal Emergency mean to your mortgage?

As as been well noted in the press, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts like many states in the Northeast, has declared a Federal Emergency due to Hurricane Sandy. What does this mean for Home Buyers and Sellers? All properties that have been previously appraised, but have not yet closed, will need to be re-inspected now that the storm as passed. This is largely due to the fact that lenders want to insure that they are lending on properties that have not suffered material damage from the storm. This increased demand for appraisers services could potentially cause a delay in the services for an appraisal. Thus, causing a delay in your loan being cleared to close.

What should you do now to insure a timely closing?

If you have a sale pending, you should check with your lender to be sure your home has been properly prioritized so that your homes’ inspection occurs in a timely fashion. This has the potential to have a domino effect as appraisers have to reschedule their current appraisal requests in order to meet the demand of the now required re-inspections.
If you have a loan commitment due this week, and maybe even next week, it may be wise to extend your commitment date out a week or two in order to insure a seamless transaction that is void of last minute attempts to secure an appraisal.
You should also anticipate that underwriters will be adding a re-inspection condition to all loan commitments. One of the last things that you would want on a loan commitment is for it to be subject to an appraisal in and environment where appraisers are backed up with a heavy work load.

If you have an appraisal scheduled for this week, it may be wise to postpone it a week or so. The reason behind this is so that the seller has time to get their home back in show condition due to both the effects of storm preparations and the effects of Hurricane Sandy itself.

Should you have any questions about how the Federal Emergency declared by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts could potentially effect your loan, be sure to check with your mortgage professional. Or for a second opinion on your mortgage, be sure to check with my favorite lender, William Raveis Mortgage.

This few simple steps can surely help insure a much smoother real estate transaction. As a real estate professional, I make it a practice to anticipate the hurdles so that my buyers and sellers have the best possible real estate experience, and the note above is one more way a define my services.