Your agent has submitted your offer to the listing agent. Now what?! How long do I have to wait? What will the sellers say? Those are the questions that may be going through your head now.
Unless the “boiler plate” of the contract is changed, the seller has 3 days to respond to your offer. They can accept it, counter it or reject it. For now, let’s assume they do not reject it. Let’s assume they counter it. They may counter the price or the counter may want the time frame to be a sooner close of escrow. Maybe the seller counters that they do not want to leave you the washer and dryer like you asked for in your offer. In response, you can respond by accepting it, rejecting it or countering it back. See where we are going here?
Whew! Everyone agrees! You bought a house, right?! Well, almost. Now it’s time for you to deposit your earnest money at the escrow office. Time to have the inspections done on the house. Don’t worry, your real estate agent will be helping to schedule these inspections. In the mean time, your lender is working on your loan and ordering an appraisal of the house.
Let’s start with a home inspection and a termite inspection. Inspectors will take a look in the attic and crawl under the house. They look at the electrical and plumbing. These inspectors will be your eyes looking for anything wrong or out of the ordinary with the house.
Now it is time to look at the inspection reports. It seems the house has termites! Yikes! No worries, we have remedies. Do you want to ask the seller to rid the house of these little critters before you move in? Sure, let’s put it in writing. In response, the seller agrees.
Oh! The appraiser went out to the house and reported back to the lender, all is good. So, let’s move on to the closing.
The lender has the loan documents and they are ready to sign. You bring a cashier check with your down payment. We meet with the escrow officer, the lender and your real estate professional. The lender funds the loan. It records at the recorders office.
You Are A Homeowner!