Executed Date: The date that all parties agree and sign the contract is the executed date. You will have 3 days to deposit your earnest money to title (usually 1% of the purchase price) and your option fee directly to the seller. (The option fee varies based on the situation, but is generally 0.1% of the purchase price).
The home buying process can take as little as 1 month or as long as 6 months. It generally takes most buyers 2-4 months to find and close on their new home.
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Loan Pre-Approval (1-2 Days)
It’s not required to have a pre-approval letter before looking at homes, but it’s a good practice. You will need a pre-approval letter in order to make an offer & it takes 10-15 minutes to fill out the application, followed by a few emails to provide supporting documents.
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Home Search (1-3 Months) Click Here to Read Our 5 Tips for A Great Home Search
Everyone searches at their own pace, so it’s difficult to know exactly how long it will take for you to find your new home. You want to move forward on a property when you’re comfortable that you understand the market. This can take a weekend or a few months. Most people search for 1-3 months before making an offer. We love helping people find the perfect home and you can read our 5 Tips for a Great Home Search here.
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Make an Offer (1-3 Days)
When it’s time to make an offer, we will send a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to you, which helps us understand if the property is priced correctly and what to offer. Depending on how much we need to negotiate the purchase, it usually takes 1-3 days to put a property under contract.
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Contract to Close (30-45 Days)
Once you’re under contract, it will take 30-45 days to close.A complete list of steps can be found here, but the most important steps are:
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Option Period (5-10 Days): You will have a 5-10 day option period, during which you will have your property inspected (inspections are usually ~$500). It’s normal for your inspector to find some deficiencies in the property and we will usually negotiate repairs during this time. If there are too many repairs necessary to move forward, you can cancel the contract and you’ll get your earnest money back (though the seller keeps the option fee).
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Appraisal (2-3 Weeks): As soon as you’re through the option period, you will instruct your lender to order the appraisal, which is ~$500 and can be paid at closing. We’ll get the results of the appraisal roughly 2 weeks after it’s ordered. The appraisal verifies to the lender that the property is worth what you’re paying. If the property doesn’t meet that value, you can walk away from the contract and get your earnest money back.
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Underwriting (3-4 Weeks): Your lender's underwriter will review all loan documents, which usually takes 3-4 weeks. The underwriting process starts before the appraisal is in, but can’t be completed until the appraisal is received. During the underwriting process, it’s normal for your lender to ask you for additional documents. (This doesn’t mean the loan is in jeopardy in any way.)
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Homeowner's Insurance & Utilities (5-10 Days Before Closing): You’ll want to have your insurance in place & the utilities scheduled to be turned on for the day of closing.
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Review Settlement Statement (2-3 Days Before Closing): Your lender will provide you with a required disclosure 3 days before closing & the title company will provide you the settlement statement 2-3 days before closing. This is arguably the most important closing document because it tells you how much money you need to bring & an itemization of what you’re paying for. If you would like to see any other closing documents prior to closing, you can request them.
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Closing Day (30-45 Days After Contract): This is the most exciting day of the process! Make sure you’ve wired in your proceeds prior to closing and bring a government-issued ID with you. If you can’t be in town for closing, we can arrange a remote closing where a mobile notary will come to you.
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After Closing
It’s natural for you to have questions about the home & homeownership after closing. We’re always available to answer questions and to provide you with referrals to any vendors you may need. Our relationship doesn't end at closing and we’re always happy to help in any way we can!
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