Hey happy buyer, you got a contract! The seller accepted your offer! What happens next?
By law, your hand money (the check you gave when you made your offer) has to be deposited within 48 hours. You then have seven days to apply to your lender so that they can plan a final appraisal on the house. The appraisal should be done within 30 days, if not sooner.
You then have to hire a home inspector to do an inspection for you. We have a list of recommended home inspectors you can contact if you wish. When the final results are accumulated for the property, you have three options. You can either accept the property as is, renegotiate if something needs fixed, or terminate the deal altogether. If you’re following through with the deal, make sure to apply for homeowner’s insurance.
Make sure you stay in contact with your mortgage company.
When the appraisal comes back, you have the same three basic options. You can accept it if it’s at the price or higher, renegotiate if it’s lower, or terminate it and get your hand money back. Be sure that you’re in contact with your mortgage company during this period so that they can update your account, and don’t make any large transactions while you are trying to purchase the house.
After this, you’ll receive the mortgage commitment. This merely affirms that the lender has reviewed all your documents and is ready to close. From there, all the paperwork goes to the attorney so they can prepare it for the final closing. The day of the closing, you do a walkthrough of the house to ensure that it is as you saw it when you bought it. Finally, you hand over a certified check for the balance due, and the keys are all yours.
If you have any questions or have a topic in mind you would like discussed, be sure to call me or send me an email to let me know.