Congratulations, Your Offer Has Been Accepted! Now What?

Congratulations, you are on your way to owning your new home! Follow these suggestions (and your East Louisville Realty realtor's advice) so that inspections and real estate closing process will go as smooth as possible.

At this point, the  good faith deposit check is deposited in either the listing broker's escrow bank account, or it's deposited in the East Louisville Realty escrow account. Kentucky law says that your check must be deposited upon contract acceptance with no exceptions.

During this period of purchasing process, you are going to need to choose a real estate closing attorney, or title company to complete the purchase of your new home.

The deposit check will be cashed. Assuming the sale goes through, this money will be applied to the purchase price of the home. If for any reason the sale is not consummated, you may be entitled to receive all of your deposit back. In certain instances, the seller may be able to retain this money as liquidated damages. Prior to the closing, we recommend discussing with the closing attorney you sellected any questions you may have about taking title to your new home.

1. The period of time it takes to close a home loan is often 30 days, but may be longer or shorter. During this time, each item specified in the contract must be completed satisfactorily. By the time you have an accepted offer, in your contract you have come to an agreement with the seller on the closing date, inspections, and other contingencies. Each contract is different, but most include the following: 1. Home Inspections contingency: these inspections that you requested in your offer have deadlines for completion, and should be completed as soon as possible after the contract is signed. Sometimes, unsatisfactory results of the inspections may mean that you will want to cancel the contract if you and the seller can agree to repairs or other remedies.
2. Financing contingency: Once the contract is signed, you have a period of time to secure funding. If, for any reason, you are unable to secure funding during the period of time granted to you by the contract (and the seller will not provide a written extension of time), you must decide whether you want to remove the contingency and take your chances on getting a loan, or you may choose to cancel the purchase contract.
3. The seller must provide marketable title to the property. The closing attorney will review the title report. The title must be "clear" of any liens or encumberances to ensure that you do not have legal issues regarding your ownership.
4. Apply for homeowner's insurance. This will be required before you can close the sale if your are borrowing to make your purchase. It would be in your best interest to apply for insurance as soon as possible after the contract is signed.
5. Contact local utility companies to schedule to have services turned on in your name once you have a confirmed closing date. No one wants to show after a Friday closing to find the power or water turned off until Monday!
6. Schedule the final walk-through inspection. The day of the closing, (or the night before closing), you should make sure that the property is exactly the same as the day your offer was accepted, and that any agreed upon repairs have been made by the seller. What you thought to be a "permanently attached" chandelier that would come with the property might have been removed by the seller and replaced with a different fixture entirely. Occaisionally appliances come up missing that were supposed to remain with the home, and it's always easier to get compensated before the closing than after.

Once the sale has closed, you're the proud owner of your new home! Congratulations!