Woot! Your offer is accepted! Now what?  Once the purchase offer is accepted, home buyers tend to get pretty excited. They have the right to do so because they have gone through a series of open houses and viewed multiple individual listings. But you need to be aware that this is just the start of the home buying process.

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Mortgage - Working with your Lender

You worked with your Lender to receive pre-approval prior to shopping for your home.  Immediately inform you lender that you have a contract to purchase a home.  Provide your lender with all of the necessary information immediately.  If you need assistance finding a lender or are dissatisfied with your current lender your real estate agent can provide a list of alternative lenders.

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Home Inspection

The first thing that you need to do once your offer is accepted is to get your home inspected. You’ll need to hire a home inspector who will inspect the entire home and come up with an inspection report. The report will have all the details about the property including the repairs that needs to be done. Home inspection is not required by law and many people might discourage you. But you need to understand that buying a home is one of the most expensive purchases of your life and it's worth it to spend a couple of hundred bucks to ensure that the investment you are making is worth your money.

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Home inspection needs to be conducted within 7 business days. Some houses need Well, Septic tanks and Radon inspection too. They might take a couple of days too. You will also have to check whether the utilities would be transferred to your name by the owner or you’ll have to do it on your own. You need to be in touch with your agent all the time who can guide you at every step. 

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Home Appraisal

During this time, your lender will be scheduling an appraisal too. It takes between 3-10 days.   Home appraisal report basically determines whether the property’s sales price is adequate or not. If the property needs some major repairs, then the lender will most probably ask you to negotiate with the seller. During this time, you will also need to ensure that your lender has all the required documents. It’s necessary to keep in touch with your lender or mortgage advisor.

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Once the home inspection and appraisal report is on the table, you can discuss them with your real estate agent and come up with one of the following decisions:

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• Everything looks good. Let’s buy the house.

• Home inspection and appraisal reports show some serious repairs needed by the property. Seller isn’t willing to negotiate. It’s better to walk out of the deal.

• Repairs are needed. Seller is willing to do the repairs or the buyer is okay with doing the repairs.

• There is room for negotiations and both the parties are willing to negotiate.

 

Homeowners Insurance

You will also need to contact the insurance agent to get the homeowners insurance quotes. You can send them the MLS listing for the property you are planning to buy, which will answer their questions. Most lenders will require you to pay one year’s insurance in advance and that will be due at closing.

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Check your Funds

Keep in touch with your mortgage advisor about how much money you will have to bring to the closing table. Your lender might tell you the exact amount just few hours before the closing because it takes time and the banks usually come up with the final numbers at the last minute. You can get an estimate beforehand and make sure that you have that money in your bank account.  DO NOT MAKE ANY MAJOR PURCHASES or MAJOR LIFE CHANGES.  You lender will check your credit, employment, and bank account 24 hours prior to closing.  Any major changes will cause the lender to postpone or terminate closing. 

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Talk to the movers

It’s good to contact the movers ahead of time and give them a tentative time. Once you have a confirmed closing date, you can update them about the day and time.

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Final Walkthrough

If you plan to carry on with the sale, you will have to schedule a final walk-through of the property 24 hours before the closing. Get in touch with your real estate agent, so they can visit the property with you. Final walk-through allows you to ensure that the property is in the similar condition as you’ve seen it before.

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Closing Day

On the closing day, you will have to bring your driver’s license or passport (if the property is in your name). All the amounts that need to be paid should be brought in the form of Cashier’s Check. The check needs to be made in the name of the Title Company.

Make sure to read the real estate contract thoroughly. It is advisable to take the advice of an attorney too. You need to check that it has all the details about the amenities that the seller promised to include in the contract.

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Closing usually takes 1 to 3 hours. If the closing is late such as 3:00pm, there is a chance that you won’t get the keys to the house until next day. Once you have the keys, you are ready to MOVE IN!