How Long After Closing Can You Move In?

When you find the home of your dreams, you will certainly be eager to make the purchase and move in as soon as possible. It will take some time to get through the process though, so you will probably be counting the days until closing day – assuming that it will be the day when you will start your new life in your new home.

And indeed, once you close on the house and the deed is recorded, the property will be yours. Yet, that does not necessarily mean that you will be able to move into your new home right away – it may be several days, or even weeks, after closing until you get the keys.  

So, when can you move in after closing then? How long do you need to wait and why?

Read on to find all the answers you need:

How soon after closing can you move in?

As a general rule, buyers can move into their newly purchased properties on the closing day of the transaction. Depending on the terms of the contract, however, the new owners may have to wait a few days – or a few weeks – before they can occupy the home.

Many sellers have reservations about moving out before closing day – they fear that the deal may fall through at the last moment and don’t want to take the risk. So, they request a week (or several weeks) of occupancy after closing – to make sure that the sales process will go smoothly and the funds from the transaction will be in their bank accounts before they need to move out of the house. Besides, the sellers may need some time to arrange their own living situation, so they may want to continue living in their old house for a few weeks after closing – until they finalize the rent or purchase of their future home and organize their move.

The issue needs to be discussed during the negotiations between the buyer and the seller and a move-in date has to be agreed upon and included in the contract.

Compromise

It’s common practice to give the sellers 7 to 10 days after closing to move out of the property. When that’s not convenient for either party, a compromise has to be found.

The seller may let the buyer move in immediately after closing – or the buyer may agree to give the seller additional 2-3 weeks. It will depend on a number of factors, but whatever terms are negotiated, they need to be included in the contract in writing.

Lease back

If the seller wants to stay in their old house for more than a couple of weeks after closing, the parties can negotiate a lease back.

Having to wait a few months after the closing date to move into their new property isn’t fair to the buyer, so the seller has to provide compensation. This is achieved through a lease back structure – the buyer leases the home back to the former owner and collects daily, weekly, or monthly rent from them. The rent payments help the new owner cover the mortgage for the first months after the purchase and build equity in the home.

The buyer and the seller have to negotiate specific leaseback terms, including the amount of the rent and the date when the former owner has to vacate the house.

Temporary housing

In some situations, there may be no mutually satisfying solution and the buyer or the seller may have to find temporary accommodations and short-term storage for their belongings – and essentially move twice.

Needless to say, that’s a great hassle and incurs a lot of additional costs, so it’s highly undesirable.

See also: Tips for moving into temporary housing; Storage options for moving

So, how long after closing can you move in? It depends on the terms you negotiate with the seller – the move-in date is established in the contract and can’t be changed.

Closing date vs move-in date

When you put in an offer on a property, you request two dates – a closing date and an occupancy date. These dates may coincide or may be different.

The closing date is the day when the transaction is finalized. The occupancy date is the date when you move into your new home – the seller is obligated to vacate the home before that date.

Both dates need to be agreed upon by both the buyer and the seller and to be set out in the Purchase Agreement.

So, is closing date move-in date? If the seller agrees to let you move in immediately after closing, yes. Most sellers, however, will need some time to prepare to move out, so you won’t be able to move in right after closing – in such cases, the move-in date will be several days (or even a couple of weeks) after the closing date.

In order for you to be able to move in on closing day, the former occupants of the home will need to have already moved out.

So, if the seller has already found an appropriate property to buy or to rent, finalized the purchase or the rent, and moved into their new home, there will be no problem for you to move into your newly bought house immediately after closing.

In most cases, however, the seller will not have moved out before the closing date:

• They may need their current home to get sold before they can buy a new one;
• They may be waiting for their rental application to get approved;
• They may not want to begin the moving process before the sale is finalized as they may fear that the deal may fall through;
• They may need the funds from the transaction for their move (See also: What is the average cost of moving?)
• Their preferred movers may not be available until a later date (See also: How far in advance to book movers);
• The moving preparations may take longer than expected and the seller may not be ready to move out by the date of closing. (See also: How to prepare for a local move; How to prepare for a long distance move)

You will have to wait for some time (as stipulated in the contract) before your newly purchased home is vacated and you can move in.

It is, therefore, very important not to overlook the issue when negotiating with the seller – make reasonable requests and compromises and ensure that the occupancy date you agree upon works for you.

Good to know: The real estate market determines how much leverage the buyer and the seller have when negotiating moving dates. If there is a great demand for homes in the area, the buyer will have to agree to most of the seller’s terms if they want to get the deal. If the seller is struggling to sell their home, they will be more willing to accommodate the buyer’s requests.

When do you get the keys after closing?

When wondering “How soon after closing do I get the keys?”, it’s normal to assume that as soon as you close on the house, it will be yours. Yet, you don’t officially own the property and can’t get the keys until recording happens.

On closing day, the attorney needs to make sure that the seller and the buyer have signed all the necessary documents and the agreed funds have been deposited. Then, the documents are sent to the County Register’s Office to be recorded in the public records.

Once the deed is recorded and all necessary payments are made, you can receive the keys.

So, do you get the keys at closing? You have a right to the keys after recording – and recording usually happens on the same day as closing, so you can realistically get the keys on closing day.

Sometimes, however, recording may be delayed by a day or two (if closing happens after the Register of Deeds has closed for the day, for example) – so, receiving the key may also be delayed by a couple of days.

Besides, depending on the terms of the contract, you may have to wait several days or weeks to take possession of your newly bought house and get the keys (as explained above).

Can you move in on closing day?

If you get the keys on closing day, theoretically you can move in on closing day. In reality, however, it will be very difficult to perform your move on the same day.

It will take some time to sign the closing documents and complete the transaction – and then it will take some more time until the deed is recorded. So, in the best case scenario, you will receive the keys at some point in the afternoon.

In order to be able to move in on the same day, you will need to have coordinated the logistics in such a way that the moving truck arrives at your new address at the time you get the keys. This means that all your moving preparations will have to be completed by the previous day and the movers will have to be hired for closing day – and they will need to have managed to load all your belongings and transport them to your new home by the time you receive the keys.

It’s not impossible, but it’s very difficult to pull off, especially considering that you will busy with the closing procedures and won’t be able to focus on your move.

Besides, the seller may be moving out on the actual closing date and may not be done until late in the day – in such a case, you will have very little time to move in.

So, it may be better to set your move-in day for a couple of days after closing even if the house is already vacated and you get the keys on closing day. It will give you some time to finalize your moving preparations, organize moving day, clean the new place, etc.

Must-read: How to organize a safe and smooth moving day

Needless to say, if you want to make some repairs or renovations, it’s not a good idea to move in on closing day, even if you can – you should wait until after the repair works or renovation projects are completed.

See also: What renovations to make before moving into a new home

Can you move in before closing?

You may want to move in before closing for a number of reasons:

• If you’re selling your old home, you may finalize the sale and may need to move out before closing on your new home. In order to avoid moving twice, you may want to move into your new place before the official closing date;
• If you’re currently living in a rental and the closing date on the house you’re buying is a few days after the first of a month, you may want to move in on the last day of the previous month, so you don’t need to pay the rent for the new month;
• If the closing date is on one of the first days of a week, you may want to move in a few days ahead of closing day, so you can use the weekend to perform your move; etc.

Moving in before closing, however, is rarely an option.

It’s not possible to move in unless the seller has already vacated the home, of course. And even if they have, they’re unlikely to be willing to let you move in before you have formally taken possession of the property – doing so is very risky and can lead to a number of problems:

1) The sale may fall through

If the sale falls through after you have already moved in, things will become very complicated. You will have to vacate the property immediately – and it will be very difficult to find a place to live and organize a second move in such a short amount of time. (See also: Emergency moving tips)

Generally, sellers don’t want to let buyers move in before the official closing date because they worry that if the sale doesn’t go through they may have to pursue legal action to evict the buyers (if the buyers don’t move out within a reasonable time) – or to deal with unwanted changes to the property (if the buyers have started some renovations). Any half-completed projects will have to be undone or finished before the house can be put back on the market.

2) The property may turn out to be less perfect than it seemed

When you start living in the house, you may discover some problems with it – or you may find that it is not up to your expectations. If you move in before closing, you will become aware of any such drawbacks before paying for the property – and will likely request the seller to reduce the price or make some repairs. You may even change your mind and decide not to buy the house.

These are the last things the seller wants, so they won’t be willing to let you move in before the transaction is completed.

3) There may be liability and insurance issues

Until closing is complete and the deed is recorded, the seller is the official owner of the home. So, if you move in before closing and the property is damaged or someone gets injured in the process, the seller will be liable. Therefore, they will not be willing to let you start moving in until the sale has been completed.

Insurance can also be an issue – the seller’s homeowners insurance will remain in effect until closing, but it may not cover your belongings if they get stolen or destroyed while they’re in the seller’s home. Your homeowner’s insurance, on the other hand, won’t come into effect until after closing. So, any compensation for damages to the home from a fire, storm, or any other disaster that occurs before the closing date will go to the seller, not you.

To reduce the risks, sellers who agree to let buyers move in before closing usually require them to sign a lease agreement, separate from the purchase agreement. The lease agreement provides the seller with some legal protection in case something goes wrong:

• The agreement states that the seller is not liable for any issues that occur while the buyer is living in the home before the closing;
• With a lease agreement, the seller can collect rent – and can easily evict the buyer if the sale falls through.

Before letting the buyer move into the home, the seller will most likely request a security deposit too.

So, you can move in before closing if the seller agrees, but it complicates things a lot.

To sum it all up: How soon after closing can you move in? In most cases, you will be able to move in 7-10 days after closing. Sometimes, however, you may be able to move in on closing day itself – or may need to wait several weeks before you get the keys to your new property. Either way, be sure to plan your move well and think through all the details – so you can ensure the successful start of your new life in your new home!