Timing to Close on a Property?

[Katherine Nally]

Hello all,

I currently live in Atlanta, GA, looking to move to Birmingham, AL this summer when my lease is up and buy a duplex to live in half using an FHA loan for my first property. I've done the research and found out that for an FHA loan you have to take residence of the property within 60 days of closing. For my specific situation that means closing couldn't be any earlier than April 16th.

My question is, how long does the closing process take? I found a duplex I'm really interested in in Birmingham, but I feel like it might be too early to schedule a visit to check it out and potentially put an offer on it. Some sources I've found seem to think closing could take 30-60 days, especially using an FHA loan, and 60 days back from my earliest closing date is February 15th, so maybe it isn't too early to schedule a visit? I haven't yet applied to different mortgage companies to get pre-approved, because again I'm not sure if it's too early or not.

As you can probably tell I'm a little anxious to get started and taking action, but I don't want to jump the gun and screw up timing (mortgage pre-approval expires and I have to reapply, find a home run property but the seller wants to close sooner than April 16th so I lose it, etc). What do you think is the best timing for me to do of all of this, given my constraints?

Thanks in advance for your help!