We indicated in previous blogs that the mortgage industry is now requesting no less than 30 days to process a loan (versus 7 to 10 days during the boom), and I am experiencing this first hand on a deal in University Place.  We set the closing for 45 days from the effective (contract) date.  A couple weeks into it the title search uncovered an innocent problem with the title.  A neighbor that lives two houses down was getting a loan for his business.  Suntrust erroneously listed our seller’s house lot number on the neighbor’s loan.  It was a simple error.  His house is on lot 6, this house is on lot 8.  It can be cleared up with a few signatures and a corrected filing at the county.  But you lose a couple weeks while Suntrust corrects their error.  In the mean time our deal would have been at risk had we contracted with a 20 or 30 days closing period.  There are a ton of potential problems: either party can back out once you miss the contractual closing date for any reason, the bank can decide to change the interest rate,  the financing approval may run out, etc.   The 45 day closing period allowed us to keep this deal intact.   Don’t rush things.  The world of finance is continuing to slow down and make sure everything is right.