Congratulations! Your offer was accepted by the seller! The next steps in the purchase process have begun.
It’s important to make sure to provide a copy of the fully executed contract with your mortgage professional and submit the application for the mortgage in a timely manner. The contract has a stated timeline of which this must occur. Failure to submit a timely application may have financial consequences later if a problem on closing or termination occurs. Your agent or attorney can explain further.
Second is to choose an attorney to represent you at the closing. A copy of the contract should be provided to the attorney along with the contact information of the seller’s attorney and mortgage professional.
The next step is to make arrangement to provide the named escrow agent named on the contract, the deposit check. This needs to be done within days of the acceptance date on the contract.
After that, the inspections need to be scheduled that are part of the contract. Please remember, there is a time of the essence provision in the contract. All inspections must be completed and settled by the date mentioned in the contract. If not, it could constitute a breach or waiver of the contingency.
The mortgage company will be requesting additional documentation beyond the original needed for the pre-approval. It’s important to respond quickly with the information to keep the process moving forward.
The mortgage company will order the appraisal, if applicable to the loan.
The mortgage company will submit all the documentation to the underwriting for final consideration. If you are purchasing a condo, the underwriter may send a condo questionnaire to the association to complete as part of the process.
The underwriter will process your personal information and the appraisal. If the loan is approved and has met value from the appraiser, you will be issued a commitment letter. This states the loan was approved. Sometimes there are conditional approvals, meaning there may be a few outstanding conditions that need to be fulfilled by the buyer before the closing.
The closing date is established and set with your closing attorney.
The buyer will be provided a copy of the closing disclosure from the mortgage company at least three days prior to the closing date. This provides a financial statement of the purchase price, closing costs, prepaids, interest rate, terms, and conditions of the loan. They must be accurate to the original statement provided to the buyer at the beginning of the process.
There is a final walkthrough performed on the property. The contract allows up to 24 hours prior to the closing to perform this. The final walkthrough is designed to allow the buyer to walk the property and house to make sure the personal contents have been removed from the property; The items stated in the contract as staying are still at the property; The appliances and other aspects of the property are working properly;To make sure there isn’t any new damage to the house from the first showing.
The buyer will attend the closing at the mortgage company or closing attorney’s office. The option for Power of Attorney may be possible as well if needed. The mortgage company will need to know in advance if there is a POA. Documentation, an explanation of the POA an approval from the mortgage company will be needed.
All funds needed to close the property will be necessary at the time of closing. Please make sure to discuss what will be needed and the means of transferring the funds with your closing attorney within a week of the closing. It is also advised to bring a personal check to the closing in case there are any last-minute adjustments. Attorneys can accept a personal check for under $1,000. It’s also important to bring proper ID to the closing such as a driver’s license or passport.
Congratulations! The papers have been signed and the keys to your new home are in hand. You now can move into the home.