What can delay a land closing?
Three things cause nearly every delay: appraisal scheduling in thin rural markets, title defects that need curing, and slow borrower response on signatures or entity documents. Income re-underwriting — the classic bank delay — is off the list entirely, because income is never in the file.
Appraisal is the most common and least controllable. Some counties have two qualified rural appraisers and a six-deal backlog; weather can push a site visit; a complex property takes longer to write up. Mitigation is simple: sign the term sheet fast so the order goes in early, and be immediately reachable when the appraiser calls to schedule.
Title issues are the second bucket — an unreleased lien from a paid-off loan, a deceased co-owner whose estate never conveyed, an access easement that was handshake instead of record. Most cure in days once identified, but a probate gap or a boundary dispute can add weeks. If you know of anything irregular in the property's history, tell the title company in week one, not week three.
The third bucket is the one you own: unsigned documents sitting in an inbox, an LLC that turns out never to have filed its annual report, a good-standing certificate nobody ordered. A borrower who turns paperwork within 24 hours almost never becomes the reason a closing slips.
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