What Happens Between Acceptance and Closing?
One question I get from First Time Home Buyers in Minnesota is “What do we need to do now that our offer has been accepted by the seller?”
This is a very fair question, since it would seem that by getting pre-approved for a mortgage and searching for the home would be most of your “work” in the process.
However, after you get an accepted offer it is important to know a few things. Your Earnest Money will be withdrawn from your checking account and held by the listing company until closing. Unless you back out for any undisclosed reasons, that money will go towards your down payment or closing costs when you settle.
If you have an inspection contingency, you’ll need to hire and schedule an inspection to take place on the property. This should be done asap in most cases, in order to not miss your inspection timeline within your contract.
At the same time, your lender will be processing paperwork, and will most likely need to gather more documents from you in order to submit the file to their underwriter. It’s important to obtain and submit these documents as soon as you can so that the lender has enough time to process things prior to closing. Most delays in today’s closings happen because the lender needs more documentation or time to push the file through. So don’t delay!
Once you get closer to the date of closing, you’ll need to line up the utilities into your name: Water, Garbage, Gas, Electric, Cable, etc. Have them setup the utilities in your name for the day of closing–but not before! You don’t want to be liable for any unpaid or delinquent bills or fees.
Lastly, you’ll setup a final walkthrough in the house to make sure the property’s condition is as you expected, and obtain a Cashier’s check for the final due amount of your down payment and closing costs.
That’s pretty much it, and you can come to closing to purchase your new home!
Obviously there are small details along the way, so make sure you always ask questions if you are confused on what the next step is. For my clients, I’ve created a simple checklist of what to expect in this time period so they are aware of their duties and the process. Good Luck!!
Related Posts
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Is is amazing how much actually does happend between the date of acceptance and the actual close date. It really drives home the importance of working with a top real estate agent to guide the buyer to a successful closing. Thanks for sharing Steve!