On Closing Day, They Still Weren’t Packed

By Tina Heaney

Tina Heaney is a seasoned real estate professional and an American-Australian dual citizen with a rich international marketing background. Her extensive experience in global marketing has given her a unique ability to understand diverse needs and tailor solutions that resonate across different markets.

Picture this. It’s closing day. The buyers are excited, the moving truck is loaded, and they pull up to their new home ready to begin their life there. And the sellers haven’t packed a single box. It happens far more than you’d think, and it can blow up a closing.

I’ve had this happen more than once, and it always comes from the same place. I had a set of sellers once, and on closing day we went to do the final walkthrough and found them only half moved out. Not because anything had gone wrong, but because they hadn’t truly believed the sale would close, so they never started packing in earnest. I talk with my sellers about this constantly, every conversation, asking how the packing is going, because I know exactly how this tends to go. These folks waited until the financing was fully approved to begin, and by then we were three days out. So on closing day they were scrambling, and the buyers had to grant them an extra four hours just to get their belongings out. It’s stressful for everyone, and it’s completely avoidable.

It’s disbelief, not laziness. This rarely comes from carelessness. Many sellers, deep down, don’t quite believe the sale is real until the money is actually in their account, so they wait. They don’t want to pack up their whole life only to have the deal fall through, so they hold off and hold off, and suddenly closing day arrives and they’re nowhere near ready. I understand the instinct completely. But a home sale has a finish line with a real date attached, and packing an entire house takes far longer than people expect. When you wait until you’re certain, you’ve almost always waited too long.

Running late has real consequences. If the sellers aren’t out by closing, the buyers have options, and none of them are pleasant. They can postpone the closing, which upends everyone’s plans, including the moving truck the buyers have already paid for. In some cases they can walk away from the deal entirely. Or we hold a portion of the seller’s money back in escrow until they’ve fully vacated. And here’s the surprising part I’ve genuinely seen: some sellers, faced with that, simply shrug, leave everything behind, and say keep the money, we’re done dealing with it. That’s not a position you want to negotiate yourself into. It’s expensive, and it’s a dispiriting way to end what should be a happy day.

The solution is to start early and take the timeline seriously. The moment you’re under contract, the clock is running, and this is exactly why I’m the agent asking how the packing is going every single time we speak. It isn’t nagging, it’s protection. The seller who starts boxing things up the week they go under contract is calm, in control, and fully ready on closing day. The one who waits for certainty is the one scrambling at the last minute and handing money back. I also look after my clients right through to the very end. I once had sellers leave money behind and also forget to pay the person who had cleaned their chimney before closing, so I simply paid him myself to keep everything square. That’s the level of handled I want for you, and it starts with respecting the timeline from day one.

So if you’re getting ready to sell, take this one to heart: the day you go under contract is the day you start getting ready to leave. Don’t wait until you’re certain. The sale is real, the date is real, and being ready is the difference between a smooth, happy closing and a stressful scramble that can genuinely cost you.

When you work with me, I’ll keep you on track the whole way, because the little things are what make the big day go smoothly. Call or text me at 603-393-4605, email me at tina@heaney-homes.com, or visit heaneyhomes.kw.com.

Let’s put together a plan that gets you to the closing table ready and relaxed.