Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
mom23es_gw

How far out to get a move in date?

Mom23Es
11 years ago

We did a single close mortgage so we don't have to set a date for that. I guess at some point the builder will tell us the house is done and give us keys, right? I don't really know how this works. Right now the line is "late september or early October". I really do like our builder and trust him as far as I could trust any builder, but I'm not really sure how accurate that time frame is. I have read all over that house builds usually run late, so I've been expecting that all along.

How far in advance should I expect an exact move in date? Or move in week? Or maybe I should ask, what's a reasonable time estimate for taking possession?

I'm kind of freaking out that we could be moving in 8 weeks or less.

Comments (17)

  • pbx2_gw
    11 years ago

    from what I've been told, you need a Certificate of Occupancy from the county.

    & your CP lender will be in the loop also so check with them if you aren't getting good feedback from the builder.

    But to answer your question, a good builder with good scheduling & logistics should give you an accurate date about 2 months out.

  • lolauren
    11 years ago

    Since you're worried about moving in too soon, ask your builder, "Best case scenario, what is the earliest date we could take possession of this home?"

  • Mom23Es
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Ok. Thanks! Since we're about 2 months out, I guess we'll try to push for a more specific date. :)

  • gaonmymind
    11 years ago

    Your contract doesn't have a date?

  • Xclusive
    11 years ago

    They are all estimates so you really can't count on any time frame in my opinion. Our builder basically stated after you have your insulation and drywall inspection you can usually count 30 to 60 days out depending on what type of finishes you will be getting. So as you can tell its still a rough estimate and not alot to go on! :)

  • patriceny
    11 years ago

    Yeah, good luck with that. :)

    I'm sort-of an idiot. I trusted that a move-in date my builder gave me in writing would be good.

    Instead I'm now going to be homeless. My current house sold and we have a closing date for that I can't change. And my new house isn't going to be ready for 2 weeks or so after that.

    My advice? Plan for a LOT of delays. And give yourself more cushion on top of that. :)

  • gaonmymind
    11 years ago

    Oh yeah I understand delays. I guess I meant is he close to the contract date? It seemed like he never gave you a concrete time to build and was just winging it. My contract spells out a final date and that if he is not done by then we have to ratify the contract and he will pay interest or penalties that incur. So he has incentive to haul tail.

  • Mom23Es
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    How do you coordinate things? We will be buying a lot of new furniture that will be delivered, we need to coordinate moving a grand piano, and we need to line up movers. How do you schedule things in advance?

    gaonmymind- I'm not sure about the exact date in our contract, but the fees only kick in after 90 days late. The builder has always said out house would be done by "late September or early october". To me, that's about a 30 day window, and if you add on the lateness everyone tells me to expect, it's a pretty wide range.

    I'm sure everyone stresses about this too. I guess it's just part of building and moving. It's just hard when I'm trying to coordinate so many things.

  • gaonmymind
    11 years ago

    I guess I would have the same questions when I get that close to closing. I would ask your builder for a concrete date because you have to coordinate things. Once he gives you the date I would call to order furniture and let them know your situation. I did that with a reno I did once and they were happy to wait for me to call to ok the delivery. Most places will be happy to get your business. Ao if they have to hold your shipment for a bit, it shouldn't be a problem. I have done this with Macy's and Horchow.

    Most times they can't deliver big items without the local shipping company contacting you and coordinating a delivery date.

  • cottonpenny
    11 years ago

    We're looking at about the same time frame!

    But we're stuck in our lease until the end of December anyway, so we'll have somewhat of a slow move-in. I have to ask today what expected completion is. But things have been so far running exactly on schedule or a little ahead of schedule.

  • pbx2_gw
    11 years ago

    I would think cottonpenny that a slow move-in affords you lots of flexibility albeit @ a cost of monthly rent.

    But I would think a bunch of leisurely small moves vs. one big frantic move would be a nice luxury to have!

  • cottonpenny
    11 years ago

    Right. Certainly we didn't plan to have that much of an overlap because paying rent on an unoccupied place is going to sting. But since we have it, we'll take advantage of it!

  • Mom23Es
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Cotton penny- hope you procrastinate less than we did when we had that luxury. DH ended up moving tons of stuff the last day of the month! Lol!

    We haven't listed our house yet. We went back and forth about doing it before or after we move out, and we just couldn't figure out how to manage it with 3 young kids. We'll be getting out ASAP so we can sell our old house.

    I'm sure Land of Nod and the mattress stores will delay shipping. I hadn't even thought of that. We're buying a bunch of stuff from Ikea. They have a new shipping service that I'll have to figure out.

  • aucorley
    11 years ago

    Like you Mom23Es, we are wondering when we can start planning our move too. I also wonder when for locking in our rate. I want my builder to have a date set so he pushes forward instead of thinking "oh well, whats another week."
    OUr contract says 6 months, but we had a delay due to our site drainage issues. Technically, from when we signed the contract we are past 6 months. Feb 1st was when we literally broke ground but go delayed until May 1 before the footers went in the ground. Who knows what date to follow. Now our rental house is on the market and although we are happy to have month to month lease, technically we only have to be given 30 days to move if it sells.

    I feel your anxiety and completely understand!! I guess we just have to hope for patient people if we have to reschedule our move/deliveries closer to the date.

    CONGRATS on coming close to the end!!

  • cottonpenny
    11 years ago

    When we sold our condo to move to this rental, our buyer demanded to close a week before our lease was starting. So we had to move our stuff into storage and live in an extended stay motel for a week with our dog and I was 8.5 months pregnant.

    We threw out our old mattress when we moved because it was worn out and ordered a new one but we messed up a bit on the timing and ended up sleeping on a futon mattress on the floor in our new place for another week. Did I mention I was 8.5 months pregnant?

    We also threw out our falling-apart Ikea dressers and didn't buy any baby furniture until after the move since I didn't have a real good sense of the sizes of the rooms. So we went about a month without any drawer space at all - just piles of clothes on the floor and piles of baby stuff. Then about 2 weeks before the baby was born we finally pulled it together.

    This was only a year ago...so coming fresh off that experience, I don't really care if it takes us the whole 2 months to move!

  • minneapolisite
    11 years ago

    Our builder just gave us a move-in date of November 9. Based on what I've heard from other people who have built with this builder, they are good at sticking to the proposed close date.

  • Xclusive
    11 years ago

    Well we are currently going thru all the things that you all trying to avoid! We were suppose to close on tomorrow (Friday 8/3) and were informed yesterday when we did our walk thru that we will not be closing. They are still working on my long punch list. That was the 4th time the closing date has been moved. The original date was 07/13, then 07/20, then 07/27 and of course tomorrow 08/03 which still won't happen.

    Now I have to go thru the hassle of rescheduling movers for furniture, appliances, etc. and reschedule our moving truck we had rented as well. I also had trades scheduled to come in and do painting, hardwood, carpets, etc. that we didn't choose to pay the builders' upcharge on. Now they will all have to be rescheduled as well. At this point we are over it so we can't do anything but sit back and wait. Going back thru and reading over the contract, they all are swayed towards the builder. They can be late, they can extend dates, etc. but if the homeowner does the language of the contract reads that we can be liable. Reading over our contract it states that when the builder is ready to close we supposedly can't delay closing or hold money in escrow if our punch list isn't done. If that is the case they will have to act on that because we don't plan on closing until everything is done.

    We have been right at this for a year now. Our house went on the market at the end of July 2011 and sold April 2012. We put a contract on new house August 2011, contingency was removed when we sold our house in Jan 2012. We broke ground in March 2012 and now it seems we can't close to get moved in so it has been a long up/down year to say the least. Hopefully it will all be done soon.

    Our saga continues....

    Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog