Step 11- In Contract

We are now fully in contract and there will be many things that the lender asks you for during this process. It seems like the stream of things needed will never end, but it will. It also seems like they, (meaning the mortgage company or bank) keeps asking for the dumbest things! But they really do have a method to their madness. If you need help with this part, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

This is also the time, where we wait for that bank beloved item – the appraisal. In this market, the seller usually pays for the appraisal, but all of this is negotiable and would have been negotiated back during the writing of the contract. Sometimes, and I have done this myself, the earnest money is released for the seller to order the appraisal and reimbursed at closing.

Appraisals are good information, but they are for the purpose of showing value for the bank. So the bank knows that the value is there to lend on the property.

During this time, the sellers will also be working on any repairs, having the furnace cleaned, inspected etc. and of course, packing to move out.

It’s important to remember that signing closing documents will happen on one day, and official recording the next – you don’t get the keys to your home until RECORDING! So, if you are signing on a Friday, it’s not going to record until Monday. This can be a bone of contention between buyers and sellers, so make sure that if you want to move in over the weekend, you need to close on a Thursday and record on a Friday.