Getting the Keys to Your New Home!

“Possession” is the term that most likely solidifies all of your home buying happiness!

If you have made it all the way through signing and closing then this is your final step in the home buying process! Of course, moving in will be a necessity and hopefully, a fantastic housewarming party will ensue to celebrate the successful closing, but that is for you to decide on your own after all the legalities you endured to secure the home.

For now, we get to talk about what happens when the home officially becomes yours, also called “possession”! 

WHAT IS POSSESSION?

This is the term used when escrow is closed, the seller received their payment, and the home was successfully transferred to your ownership with your local county.

At this point, the home is officially yours. No one can take it back (unless, of course, you stop making payments). You get to move in and enjoy this next adventure.

Typically, receiving the keys to the home happens at 5:00 pm on the day of closing. In Oregon, this is the time already in the contract to purchase unless otherwise stated. Your agent will get the keys and will give them to you, often meeting you at your new home.

At this point, you have free reign to do what you wish with your first moments in the home!

DIFFERENT POSSESSION TIMES 

In some instances, home buyers or sellers may have reason to have a different possession time.

If a buyer needs to move into the home before it is legally theirs it can be included in the contract. The seller would need to give their express permission in writing before this is legally possible. Typically, this is due to an urgent moving situation and is quite rare.

If a seller needs to stay in the home after the closing this is can also be included in the contract with written approval from the buyer. The seller would likely pay “rent back”, which is simply payment for the time they are renting the home from the new owner. 

In both of these instances, it is essentially like the owner (whether the buyer or seller) is a landlord. They will agree upon the details of the extra time spent in the home and will agree upon compensation if required.

Although moving in before the home closes— or staying after the home closes— does occur, we do not recommend it. If the buyer moves in before closing and the sale does not go through, you will have entered into a difficult situation where you will need to remove the buyer. Likewise, if the home closes and the seller stays, but does not stick to the rental agreement, the buyer will have to use the authority to remove the seller from the home.

Neither situation is ideal and can cause difficult emotions on both sides. It is best to keep the possession time directly after closing!

TIPS FOR POSSESSION DAY

As we mentioned in our closing blog post, you will want to have had your utilities transferred at this point. Ideally, you will have it set to begin on the day of closing (which, as we mentioned, typically coincides with possession).

First, if you are staying the night there, or moving right away, you may want to purchase food to bring with you to put in the fridge and cabinets. Some buyers enjoy celebrating the purchase by sleeping there the first day of possession— sometimes even in sleeping bags! It’s disappointing to have an exciting moment of spending your first night there only to remember that the fridge is empty! 

Second, bringing cleaning supplies the day of is also useful as we’ve seen sellers leave homes in varying degrees of cleanliness. 

Third, leaving lights on and curtains closed when you are not home during the moving process if it spans over a period of days, can deter people from assuming the house is empty. This is especially helpful if the home has been vacant over a long duration.

Finally, an important step that is often overlooked is changing the locks right away. Who knows how many keys were created and passed around to parents, aunts, uncles, contractors, or babysitters. We recommend changing all locks, or passcodes if no key is used, to make sure that your home is secure immediately.

TIME TO CELEBRATE 

At this point, you can now call yourself a seasoned home buyer! 

You’ve been through the whole process from start to finish and can successfully say you have purchased a home!

We would love to be the agents to hand you the key on that special day or be the one to guide your friends and family to their next home purchase! Please call us at (503) 583-2581 and we would be honored to help!