Subject removal is in three weeks and your bank needs six.
Deadlines and underwriting run on separate clocks. There are ways to close on time, all of them with a cost, and one of them is free and worth trying first.
The short answer
Bridge and private financing can fund in one to two weeks, conventional financing rarely moves faster than 45 days, and asking the seller for an extension is free and refused less often than borrowers assume.
| Option | Timing | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Ask the seller for an extension | Frequently one or two weeks | Free, and refused less often than borrowers assume, especially when reports are ordered |
| Bridge or private financing | One to two weeks to fund | Priced well above bank money with lender fees on top, then refinanced into conventional |
| An expedited conventional file | Sometimes the closing date is reachable | No premium pricing, but fewer lenders and the package must be complete on day one |
The situation as you experience it
You have an accepted offer with a subject removal date. Your bank has your package. Nobody will give you a straight answer on timing, and the date is not moving on its own.
The deposit is real money and the seller has other interest. Every day of silence feels like the deal slipping.
Why this happens
Conventional commercial underwriting runs in a fixed sequence, and the steps cannot be stacked on top of each other. The lender sizes the file, issues a term sheet, orders reports, reads the reports, then takes the file to credit.
The reports have their own lead times that no lender controls. A commercial appraisal takes weeks, longer if the property is unusual or the appraiser is busy. An environmental report adds its own schedule, and if the first stage flags anything the second stage adds more.
Then the credit committee sits on a calendar. It meets when it meets, and your closing date is not an input to that schedule.
What your options actually are
Ask the seller for an extension. Free, quick, and refused less often than borrowers assume, especially when you can show the lender is engaged and reports are ordered. Do this before you pay anyone for speed.
Bridge or private financing. One to two weeks to fund when the property is clean, then refinanced into conventional once the reports and the committee catch up. Priced well above bank money with lender fees on top. Our bridge and land financing page explains the structure.
An expedited conventional file. Sometimes the date is reachable. It requires the package complete on day one, the appraisal ordered before the term sheet is signed, and a lender whose credit process can be pushed. Fewer lenders than you would like, but no premium pricing.
When paying for speed is the wrong trade
Speed costs real money. A bridge for six months plus the fees on both ends can consume a meaningful share of the first year's return, and that cost lands whether or not the property performs as planned.
So the question is not whether you can close on time. It is whether the deal is still worth doing once those costs are in the numbers. If the purchase only works at conventional pricing, paying bridge pricing to save it is usually the wrong trade, and letting a deal go is a legitimate outcome. Current conventional pricing is set out on our BC commercial mortgage rates page.
What makes a file move fast
A complete package on day one. The appraisal ordered immediately rather than after the term sheet. A rent roll that reconciles to the actual leases. Corporate documents, identification and financial statements ready before anyone asks. A single point of contact who replies the same day.
Most delays are not lender delays. The deal submission checklist lists everything a lender needs, and having it all together at the start is worth more than any promise of speed.
Moving quickly.
Related situations
Tell us the closing date first.
Send the purchase agreement, the property address and the income. We will tell you honestly whether conventional can make the date, and what the alternative costs if it cannot.