Your Offer is Accepted

Your Offer is Accepted Now what?

Congratulations, your offer has been accepted!

Once the offer is mutually accepted by the Seller and Buyer, there are deadlines outlined in the sales agreement to meet. Now we get to work together on getting to the closing table.

Getting an offer accepted is one of the most exciting moments of the home-buying process. But it’s also when things get more serious. By now, you’ve probably heard the terms “closing” and “escrow” thrown around, but a lot happens between offer acceptance and closing escrow. The accepted offer dictates the timing of how and when things will be accomplished, through closing. During the closing process, you’ll put down an earnest money deposit, perform any necessary inspections, negotiate for repairs, get your home appraised, lock down your loan and, if necessary, cancel the deal in accordance with certain contingencies without losing your deposit.

Earnest Money

Earnest money is a deposit in the range of 1% for the purchase price. It shows good faith that you are serious about purchasing the property and will follow the agreed on terms. These funds will go towards your down payment or closing costs. Earnest money is usually deposited into an escrow account with the title company within three business days of mutual acceptance.

Lender Documents

As soon as you have an executed sales contract on a home, your Realtor will communicate with your mortgage lender to make sure they get a copy of the fully executed contract. As soon as they receive it, the lender will start the mortgage process for your transaction.

To begin this process, your lender will start asking for a myriad of paperwork. Be prepared to provide the requested documentation throughout the transaction. It is best to get the requested documentation to them ASAP to limit any problems with their timeline. Gathering and organizing all of these documents can quickly become overwhelming if you are not prepared; not providing them to your lender on time can slow their process down and could ultimately result in a delay to the closing date.

Seller Disclosures

The seller disclosures are filled out by the seller, and will disclose any problems with the property that they know about. It will also be noted what issues have been repaired and how it was done. The disclosure is exempt from new construction and bank owned/court-appointment sellers. If the seller does not provide this document, the buyer has until the day of closing to terminate the transaction for non-disclosure.

A buyer has 5 business days from receipt of the disclosures to accept or terminate the transaction due to items found on the disclosures.