Holy cow! You have an accepted offer on a home! This is great news and exciting times for you (and possibly also, your family, if applicable).

First, you should celebrate. Get a good meal or some drinks and enjoy the new opportunity before you.

Right after that, work needs to be done to make sure every protection you put in place in your offer is completed correctly. This ensures you stay protected and can close on time.

So, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s make sure you have a specific list of steps you need to take in the early part of your “under contract” time frames. Use this as a tool to check the boxes and make sure you are all set.

1. You need to get the fully signed purchase agreement, supporting documents, and any addendum(s) over to the loan officer you are working with – They need these pieces quickly so that they can start getting your disclosures out, your appraisal ordered, your file ready for underwriting, and more. More than likely, the total documents will include:
   • The original purchase agreement (offer).
   • The Bill of Sale.
   • If the offer was not initially accepted and was countered by the seller, then any and all counter offer pages.
   • As soon as you provide it to the seller, the loan officer will need the copy of the earnest money check (front and back), or earnest money wire receipt.
   • If any further alterations were made after acceptance of the offer, then the addendum(s) to the purchase agreement.
2. You should review the conditions and contingencies on the purchase agreement to make sure you understand the steps that are outlined as steps you have to complete – Each side, buyer and seller, have specifically agreed upon steps each side will take. Do a quick review of everything you agreed to in the full contract to make sure you understand what you are responsible for. If you need, review again with you realtor and loan officer.
3. Order the Home Inspection – More than likely, you made your offer contingent upon a home inspection being completed. You also likely put a time frame on the contract that the home inspection would be completed in and information shared with the seller by (10 to 15 days is normal), or else you could lose your negotiating rights if any repairs came up as big deals during the inspection. So, to protect yourself and make sure you do not lose your negotiating ability with the home inspection results, find a home inspector and get the inspection ordered to be done fast (well before the dates you put in the offer).
4. Get your Homeowner’s Insurance quotes requested quickly – You also probably put your offer contingent upon getting acceptable homeowner’s insurance to insure the property. And you likely put a date that you would have those insurance quotes reviewed by (10 to 15 days after acceptance is normal here, also). If you do not get the quotes within this time period and you find out later that the homeowner’s insurance for the property is very hard to get or insanely expensive, you are stuck purchasing that property anyway. This could cause major issues for your wallet or with protecting the home. Get your quotes right away, or ask your loan officer to request quotes from some companies they recommend right away, so you do not find out that there is a problem, too late.
5. Get your mortgage disclosure documents signed right away – within 3 business days of the lender receiving your purchase contract, you have to receive from the lender (via email) the initial disclosures providing example numbers and all the government program forms. Make sure you review the numbers in detail (along with the other information) and ask your loan officer any questions you have. Then sign the disclosures quickly. The loan officer cannot begin having underwriting work on the file, or do other important steps, unless those are signed.
6. Gather the documents the loan officer needs quickly – Depending on when you were initially approved and the original documents you provided to the loan officer, many of the documents are probably too old for underwriting to use. So, the loan officer will provide you a detailed list of the documents needed to get your file through underwriting. Do not wait to provide those documents to the loan officer. The longer you take, the harder it is for the loan officer and lender to get your file through underwriting and ready for closing. Waiting too long could, obviously, cause issues with the closing date
7. Keep in touch with your loan officer on completed steps you have taken – As you progress through steps like the home inspection and getting insurance quotes, let your loan officer know. The loan officer may need to wait to order the appraisal until after the home inspection is completed to make sure there would be no issues with the inspection. If there is, or there is not, let the lender know the inspection is completed and how it looks. Same with homeowner’s insurance, once you get your quotes make sure to let the loan officer know which insurance company and insurance quote you want to go with so the lender can get that approved and make sure it works for qualifying for the mortgage.
8. Once the file is through underwriting and you receive “Conditional Approval”, get the remaining documents for the lender – Once the lender has review your file in underwriting, they will give you a “Conditional Approval”, meaning the file looks good but they need a few remaining items before they could issue a “Clear to Close”. Whatever items the loan officer needs you to help with, get those quickly so nothing gets delayed.

All-in-all, take your role of getting the loan officer, your realtor, and the seller the documents and information they need within the time frames you agreed to. If you do that, everything will likely go very smooth and you will be in your new home before you know it. Any questions you have, talk to your realtor and your loan officer to make sure you understand each piece. Everyone wants the same thing, to have you easily and quickly close on your home. So, communicate well and do your part, and everyone will work together to give you the best experience they can.

Enjoy!

Oh yeah, as with other posts, here is a completely unrelated photo that I think is cool as a final kick-off.