What happens from offer accepted to closing day?

Your offer has been accepted, congratulations!!

Now what?

The rest of the home buying process can seem daunting with how much gets done within the 30-45 days after going under contract, so let’s break it down.

After your offer is accepted, you submit the earnest money within 2 business days to the seller’s brokerage trust account to be held until closing. 

Next comes the home inspection. The average window of time for inspection to occur is 7 days, but this can be adjusted if needed to strengthen your offer. It’s very important to remind yourself that at the inspection, the inspector is intentionally looking for anything and everything that is wrong with the home. If your offer is contingent on inspection, this is also the window of time you can negotiate based on items found in the inspection.

Once you pass inspection, next comes appraisal! When purchasing a house with a loan, this is when an appraiser determines if the value of the home aligns with the loan amount you are requesting. 

While all of this is happening and being guided by your realtor, behind the scenes, you (the buyer) are providing documentation to your loan officer as they work to ensure you qualify for your home loan. This includes information such as tax returns, work history, assets, etc. 

Your title company will also be working behind the scenes during all of this to ensure the title of the home can pass smoothly from the current owner to you at closing day and that there aren’t any issues or “clouds on title” that may cause a delay or concerns down the road. 

Once the title is cleared and financing is approved, you are clear to close! 

The very last step prior to closing day is your final walkthrough! This happens 24-48 hours before closing day, you will get to walk through the home one last time to make sure if any changes or work that was negotiated to be done has been completed, and/or that the house looks exactly the way it should before closing. 

And finally, closing day! As a buyer you will bring your drivers license and be prepared to sign lots of documents. 

Have questions about the home buying process or want to talk through any steps that are giving you stress? Let’s chat!