How Long Does it Really Take to Buy a Home in Delaware? New Construction vs Resale Explained

If you're planning to make the move to Delaware, especially for retirement, you most likely have asked a version of this question. How long is this actually going to take? And that's a fair question because there are a lot of moving parts and they all seem to want to happen at the exact same time. So maybe you have a house to sell. Maybe you were trying to move to Delaware because you were trying to move closer to family. Maybe you're trying to downsize and you've been living in the same house for 20 to 30 years. And there's a lot of stuff that you collect in 20 to 30 years that has to go because it's not going to fit in the next house. And then on top of that, you're trying to figure out movers, finances, maybe healthcare. There are a lot of moving parts. So when people ask me, how long does it actually take to move to Delaware? What you're really asking is, is when am I actually going to move? And this is really different depending on what type of home you are purchasing. If you're purchasing a resale home, that's a different timeline. If you're purchasing a quick delivery home or a spec home from a builder, and in that timeline is even more different than a new construction timeline. So really it depends on what type of home you're purchasing, but we are going to take today and go over each individual timeline. And listen, before we get into all of that, if you're actually sitting down and you're wondering what does it actually cost to move to Delaware? I have made a full guide, 27 pages packed full of information with real numbers so that there are no surprises when you make that move to Delaware. That is below in the description. So go ahead and grab that before we get started. All right. So let's get started on why does this all feel so confusing? And the reason is, is because especially if you are moving from out of state, Delaware typically does it differently than the state that you are living in. I've seen that time and time again with working with many relocation buyers. So maybe your state is not an attorney state. Maybe you have due diligence periods. Maybe there are so many different things that go into your particular state that you live in. Delaware probably does it a little bit different than where you are currently living. And that's why it can seem confusing. It also depends on what are the moving parts to get you here to Delaware. Do you have a to sell? You might need to get that on the market depending on what type of home you are purchasing. Then you have to think about movers. Then you're thinking about the finances. If you're selling your home, is the wire going to hit in time to purchase in Delaware? There are so many moving parts and that is why it is very confusing. So let's go through the three types of homes that you could be purchasing and the timelines. Let's start off with resale homes. A resale home is a that either someone currently lives in or it may be vacant, but the house is already built and it is on the market in Delaware. Typically we see closings anywhere from 30 to 45 days. It could be 60 days in some cases, but it really depends on what that seller is looking for and what you are looking for as a buyer. A lot of times people think that resale homes are faster, but it really depends. In some cases it is, but in some cases it's actually longer because it really depends on how long it takes you to find a home that you would want to put an offer in on. So first things first, we are going to figure out your financing, whether you need to obtain a mortgage or you are paying cash. So if you are obtaining a mortgage, you're going to need a pre-approval before touring homes. So then once you have that, we will go tour homes and this is where it really depends on what you're looking for and if that home that you're looking for is currently on the market. Once we do find the home that you are interested in, next we will submit an offer. Now if this home is highly desirable and there are multiple offers, you will be in a multiple offer situation or in some cases you submit an offer and your offer gets accepted. Now there are different parts of negotiations during this process, but usually we hear back with an offer within 48 to 72 hours. The one thing is that Delaware does not have time is of the essence, so we do not see a lot of deadlines from buyers. For example, this offer expires on such and such date at such and such time. I know that is different from other states, but we do not really see that in Delaware. Now you as the buyer, you have the right to withdraw your offer at any time, but just know that we don't really see deadlines very often. Next, if your offer is accepted, in that initial offer we are determining when settlement is going to be. If you have a house to sell, we are going to try and give you a little extra time to get that house on the market if it is not already on the market and sell your home. I will tell you, if you live in New York, my advice to you is if you are thinking about moving to Delaware or retiring to Delaware, you should sell your house now. And the reason I say that is because for some reason New York closings take what seems like forever. All the settlements I've had, there was a domino effect and settlements were held up because of the New York buyer. So if you have a home to sell in New York, my advice is to sell it before you think you should, because it's most likely going to take longer than you originally thought. That was just a little side tangent. All right, getting back to it. If you have a house to sell, I do recommend trying to get your house on the market either before you submit that offer or even as close to submitting that offer as possible, because your home may take a little bit of time to sell. In your offer as well, we will have inspections, so you will be able as the buyer to request inspections. They typically happen within two weeks of an accepted offer. Then we have the negotiations for repair requests and anything else that should go along with your inspections. You are also working with your financing, whether that be you are working with your mortgage lender, handing him in all of the documents that you need, or if you're paying cash, we're really just waiting on the attorney to handle title and all of the closing paperwork. Once all of that is completed, repairs are completed, the appraisal is completed, then at that point we will go to closing. Closing always happens with an attorney in Delaware. So like I said, a resale home, it could be anywhere from 30 days, it could even be 60 days on a case-by-case basis. Typically we see anywhere from 30 to 45 days, depending on your financing. For many buyers, this timeline seems very structured, especially for Delaware. The uncertainty tends to happen in the beginning, less so at the end, unless during the financing process some red flag comes up. But I will tell you, once we go under contract with any type of So I do not want you to be spending money on Amazon, ordering any appliances, any furniture, you do not want to change your credit or your financial situation at all during the closing period. I will say this time and time again, I sound like a broken record, and I know it comes off mean, but I am trying to save you from losing the house that you are currently under contract with. So please trust me, as soon as we close, if we close at two o'clock, I don't care if at Please don't do that before we close. Okay, so let's move on to quick deliveries or spec homes. A quick delivery or a spec home is a home that a builder has built. No one has lived in it. It is considered new construction, but they have picked all of your options out. So they have picked all of your colors, the floor plan, the lot, any of the cabinets, any of your other options, upgrades, anything like that. And they have priced that home accordingly. With a quick delivery home, it really depends where they are in the process. In some cases, builders have already decided where the quick delivery home is, and they may already be at drywall, they may already have the home done, it really depends on one the builder and then to where they are with their process. If you find a home that has already completed its construction, and it's ready to go, depending on whether you are financing, or if you are paying cash will depend on how long your closing date is. So if you are financing, typically, it's going to be 30 days to 45 days. And if you are paying cash, really, it could be anywhere from two weeks to three weeks, depending on how long it will take the attorney to run title. Now, let's say that you are looking at a new construction home, but you would like to pick all of the options. This is where the timeline does get extended. So first, what we're going to do is we're going to look at which builder you would like to purchase a home with. Once we figure out the builder, then we will start looking at the actual community. What lot are you looking at? What floor plan are you looking at? This is where we will sit down with the builder to pick out all of those options. So first, we're going to look at the floor plans, then we're going to look at the lots. And then once that is decided, then we are going to go into the contract. And then you will go to the design center. Typically, for builders, the build time is anywhere from six to eight months. Now, this could be extended depending on when you are actually building during the time of year. For example, if you were to sign your contract in, say, October, November, December, and they are building throughout the winter months, it could have a weather delay. This has only happened a few times for me, but it does happen. We have seen it happen. Also, if you have chosen an option that maybe is on backorder, like what we saw during COVID, when it was difficult getting garage doors and windows and typical siding and shutters. There were so many times where I was having homes closed without the shutters because they were just on backorder and the builder had to install them after we closed. So those are things that could delay closing, where it could take anywhere from that eight month mark, maybe makes it to 10 months, nine months. It really depends. I haven't seen it a lot lately, but it's not to say that it hasn't happened before. So on a new construction timeline, you will go under contract. You'll go to the design center. We will have a pre-construction meeting. You'll have a pre-drywall meeting. And then you will have what's called a blue tape walk, where we will go approximately two weeks before settlement. And we will mark up the house with blue tape, any imperfections that you would like fixed, anything else like that. Then we have a final walkthrough, which is typically the day of the closing in the morning. And then we usually close in the afternoon. So for the new construction timeline, you could be looking at anywhere from six to eight, maybe nine, maybe 10 months. It really depends on if the builder gets pushed back by weather or if something's on back order. All right. So let's not forget what we talked about with the financial side though. If you are financing, it is very important that you do not send up any red flags to the mortgage company as to why you're spending large amounts of money or changing your credit profile or spending your closing money. Please don't do that either. I've seen that happen before. It hasn't happened to me personally, but I've heard stories and I would never want that to happen to one of my buyers. So if you are planning on purchasing appliances, furniture, you want to run this by your mortgage lender before making those purchases, because you need to make sure that it is not affecting your credit profile or sending any red flags up to the mortgage company that would risk your pre-approval or your mortgage. Also, I know we touched on this before selling your current home. You want to give yourself plenty of time to sell your current home. And in some cases, especially if you are purchasing new construction, you may need to sell your current home in order to have the money for the deposit to start building on your new construction home. In that case, you may be looking for temporary housing to get you from selling your home to closing on the new construction home, or you may be able to negotiate maybe a rent back in your current home to then be able to afford the deposit for your new construction home. I know that there are a lot of moving parts. Let's be honest, no one really likes moving. It is not fun. It is not a fun process. I try and take as much stress off of you as possible because I know that it is not enjoyable to actually do the move. You have to pack up your house, especially if you've lived there for 20 to 30 years. You have all these things that you didn't even know you had. You start thinking, am I a hoarder? But you're really not. You just, you collect things. You go from nothing when you move in to a house full of stuff and you realize how much it's going to be to actually move it. And then that's when you start getting rid of things. So do not panic. I promise everyone goes through this. I hear it time and time again. I didn't know I had that much stuff. I don't know why I have all these things. I'm going to get rid of it. I always say, I call it pre-packing or honestly just decluttering or honestly just getting rid of things. When I moved from Rehoboth to Clayton, I literally got rid of every single thing, every single thing, including my bed. We moved into my current home with not even a mattress, just because I didn't want to pay to have to move it. I decided, you know what, it's probably cheaper if I just sell it and then buy all new when we get to the new house. And that's exactly what I did. So I am also in the same boat as you. And so just know, I know it is difficult. I know it is a lot of moving parts. So if you remember one thing from this video, it's to stop asking, how long is this actually going to take? And to think about what type of home you're going for, and then look at the timeline and then decide which timeline you actually want to go down. I really hope this helped to explain the timelines for the three different types of home, whether it be a resale home, a quick delivery home, or a new construction home. If you are thinking about retiring to Delaware and you're curious about the true cost of that, I did create a guide. It is down below in the description. So go ahead and grab that. I really hope this video helped. If it did, be sure to give me a thumbs up. Be sure to hype this video. That is a new thing that I'm loving so far. And also don't forget to subscribe to this channel. And I will see you on next week's video. Hey, thank you so much for getting this far in the video. If you are interested in more Delaware retirement content, check out this video right here. And if you would love to tour Delaware 55 plus communities with me, check out this playlist right here. And don't forget, subscribe to my channel.