This is not done in my area. I have always set closings so that I am out of one home completely before I move into another.

When we moved from Flagstaff to Tucson, we closed on our Flag house on July 7th and on July 11th in Tucson. The moving company stored my items in the truck for three days at my expense.

I understand this scenario is done in your area, but it is not done in the vast majority. I absolutely will not close on a home until the seller is out completely. What if they stayed after closing and then fell on the driveway and broke their leg? That's a liability lawsuit waiting to happen.

Closing means the house belongs to the buyer and it is no longer yours, which also means you have no right to have any of your belongings in there. Legally, the buyer has no obligation to return the items to you.

May I ask where you are located?

I think that we have established on earlier threads that this is very regional. The usual here has been 3 days after closing. I once rented back for 6 weeks until school was out and that was negotiated up front. With more and more people backing out at the 11th hour, I think it is foolish to move before closing. My personal gripe is that people don't ask themselves if it is ethical to back out at the last minute, they just ask themselves if it is legal.

I never move out before closing.
I refuse to leave before I see the money in my account. Moving out gives the buyer leverage I don't want to give.
As a buyer, I don't expect the seller to be out before close.

cmarlin - but doesn't that give the seller unfair leverage because they are now occupying a home they do not own? Isn't refusing to close due to whatever issue arises enough leverage?

It would never cross my mind not to be out prior to close because once it closes, it's not my house anymore.

i am closing on the house i am selling and buying on the same day the one i am buying will be vacant prior to closing but i have 3 days from closing to be out of my house. I am in NY.

in NY also and I would never move out for the reason that CMarlin mentioned. If this were 2 years ago I probably would have preferred to buy first, fix up the new house then move and fix up the old to sell but in this market with the current credit restrictions that would be impossible.

What if they refuse to close? As for liability, you both have insurance on the house, how is this different from someone visiting you? What if someone falls in your house when they are there for an open house or because they are returning an egg?

I would never move out until after closing either (minnesota). In fact the last house we sold, we lived in for 6 weeks after closing. That was negotiated upon the sale, at no cost to us.

I want the buyer out before we close. Have always done that with the homes we have bought. Not to mention the lawyers in our area also do not recommend allowing the new owners to stay past closing. Renting back is very rarely done in our area-New England. I have also never bought a new home before we sold our old one. That is a risk we would never take on. Not to mention the fact that we don't need to rush into buying a new home. We like to take our time. The furniture goes into storage and we have rented a small apartment. What we do with our belongings and where we stay is our responsibility, not something we put on the people that bought our old home. They bought it,it's theirs, they should have it as soon as the closing is done. NancyLouise

That was a condition we had put in our contract in coming down to their terms-that we have 3 days post closing to move to our new home that we closed on in the afternoon of our closing. Our realtor agreed to pick up the rent. We wanted no rent also inserted into the contract as part of our large concession on the price. If we had not inserted that term, we would not have come down to their terms as we'd have other money tied up in having our stuff stored and could have easily gotten a better offer (at that time). We wanted to move quick to not loose the 2nd house, but wouldn't have done so if the terms were not met.

In the end, they moved in with nothing down and us paying closing and we had three days to get moved out and have the house cleaned.

"This is not done in my area. I have always set closings so that I am out of one home completely before I move into another."

Same here. I'm in Iowa. On our last house transition, we were out of the old house two weeks prior to closing after we'd closed and taken possession on our new house. We did a bridge loan that covered that two-week period. (We'd already planned on it before we had a buyer for our old house.) The sellers of our new house had moved out months ago, so that wasn't an issue. Those two weeks allowed us to get everything moved, haul garbage/junk to the landfill, and thoroughly clean the house. It was nice not to feel rushed.

In our area, we also do NOT move out before closing, usually are given at least 3-7 days to vacate, or whatever is agreeable to both parties. I concur, what if you are already all moved out, and the deal falls thru? There you are, having to turn around and move back in, and go thru all the hassle involved.

I think it all boils down to what all parties agree on and how the contracts are written up.

I think this issue also has something to do with local laws and customs and/or if you live in an escrow state or closing state. Personal circumstances can also determine what agreements have been made between buyer and seller. Just remember to cover yourselves by running it by your insurance agent.
In a closing state, the property belongs to the buyer at day of closing, a "gap protection" title insurance, protects the buyer of any proplems to the title prior to it being recorded, and all funds are dispersed at closing.

In an escrow state, ownership might take place when the deed is recorded, at which time all funds will be dispersed and the ownership/keys are transfered between the parties.

In the Chicagoland area the standard contract says the seller will leave the home "broom clean" prior to closing.

For sellers who are concerned about moving out and the closing being canceled -- that's what earnest money is for. If the buyer doesn't fulfill the contract (without just cause), the seller keeps the earnest money.

Sellers are protected. Buyers need to be protected by being able to see that the house they are buying is "as represented" (my term). We made the mistake of allowing a seller to stay three days after closing without witholding earnest money. She removed her heavy furniture and we discovered a sinking foundation (cracks hidden behind furniture).

This is a two-way street. You show me yours (house) ; I'll show you mine (money)! LOL

chisue - I totally agree with you. All these sellers who won't be out prior to closing are giving themselves an unfair advantage. What if they damage something when moving out? What if there is a major hidden defect? Because funds have been transferred and the deal closed, the buyer has absolutely no recourse. This sounds extremely one-sided to me.

Since I have nothing to hide, I don't mind being out prior to closing. If the buyer delays, we negotiate the terms if it's through no fault of ours as the seller.

In my area, IN, it's negotiable. Sometimes buyers can move in the day of closing, sometimes it's at a later date. Most of the time the buyer gets possession at closing. Three times this year I've negotiated for my sellers to remain in the house after closing, but 99% of my buyers have been able to move in the day of closing. The one buyer exception wasn't closing on her old house for a month so was fine with the seller staying. The needs of each buyer and seller vary as does the possession date.

In a closing state, the property belongs to the buyer at day of closing, a "gap protection" title insurance, protects the buyer of any proplems to the title prior to it being recorded, and all funds are dispersed at closing.
In an escrow state, ownership might take place when the deed is recorded, at which time all funds will be dispersed and the ownership/keys are transfered between the parties.

I think New York is a closing state since everything is calculated from the day of closing and in our case we bought a relo house and took possesion at the closing (including shoveling the snow that fell later that day!) Still if it was occupied we would have had to wait a few days and been compensated per day. However our homeowners insurance would have kicked in at closing

Because funds have been transferred and the deal closed, the buyer has absolutely no recourse.

When we let our sellers stay for half a week, there was money put in escrow to cover any damages that might be discovered after move-out. And in fact, a floor was scratched, and we kept some of the money.

We were also compensated, and there was an escalation clause (something like, $X per day until 5 days had passed, then $X+$100 per day; if 10 days had passed, $X+$200 per day).

Sometimes, in terms of insurance, the former owner is considered "at sufferance"--there as a guest, NOT a tenant, of the new owner. Sort of the same legal standing as if your friend moved in w/ you for a month or so.

State of Connecticut. The answer is yes. We moved out before the closing on our former homes. All were local moves. Very simply, when the closing was done, we turned over the keys and no longer had any rights to the property. Staying the house would have been negotiated with the new owners prior to the closing and spelled out in a contract.

By the same token, when we closed on homes we were buying, our walk throughs the morning of the closing were in empty houses.

As far as moving our furniture, our first house we moved into ourselves from an apartment. Our second house, we moved in right after the closing. We lived in a camper for a night after moving out of our first house. The furniture was kept locked in the mover's truck overnight. The last move, we closed on our new house 2 weeks before we moved out of the old one.

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT