Question:
“We’re planning to buy a home. A realtor told me that the seller has to be out of the home 5 days before the sale closes. Is that correct?”
Answer:
No.
My guess is the Realtor had that confused with the “default” in the contract for tenants. The contract says tenants are to be out five days before closing. But that time frame is often negotiated and changed to the property being vacant at closing.
The default in the contract for an owner-occupied home is for the owner to be out by 5pm on the day escrow closes.
Like most things in the contract, that’s negotiable. But it would be unusual and probably not received well if you asked the seller to move out of their own home several days before closing. After all, they still own the home during that time!
