When A Home Seller Plans to Move Out of the USA

Moving out of the USA after closing on your home requires careful planning by all parties involved.

When a home seller in Carmichael is planning to move out of the USA, a lot of forethought needs to go into this relocation and sale. It’s not like the former owner can pop by a week or so later to pick up forgotten items. If it’s left behind in the house, for example, it is considered debris by the buyer and very unwelcome. Our California purchase agreements state that all parties agree the premises will be turned over to the buyer without debris, trash or non-negotiated personal items.

It can also be a bit tricky to record the closing with enough time left to wire funds, especially internationally. A recent seller went through this and thought he had lined up everything he needed to do. A few weeks before closing, he began asking more pointed questions about wiring funds, and for some reason, all the money needs to be in his account prior to his departure. We were scheduled to close on a Friday, but instead we moved the closing to Thursday, requested funding for Wednesday, which will pretty much guarantee funds can be wired Thursday morning. It will make the move out of the USA that much smoother.

Not all agents can be this detailed oriented for their sellers, but it’s a necessity because sellers don’t know the ins and outs of closing like we do. We negotiated a few days for the seller to stay at no rent-back fee after closing. This allows the seller to spend the last night in his house in his own bed, ready to leave for the airport at 3 AM.

This scenario, however, brings up another situation. What about the bed? You can’t leave the bed in the house. So the seller can’t just get up, grab his bags and head for the airport. What is he to do with the bed at 3 AM in the morning? And the refrigerator? What kind of thing is this to think about at the last minute, before the guy is about to move out of the USA?

Fortunately, for us, we communicate with our clients and stay on top of issues. We were able to reach an agreeable compromise with the buyers that the bed and refrigerator can stay in the house after closing. We don’t want any surprises for any side of the transaction. We strive to make everybody happy at closing. This could have gone the other way, but it didn’t. It’s called being proactive.

If you need an experienced Sacramento Realtor, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.