So you went under contract! That’s Huge! And just a little bit scary! All the hard work you did preparing your home for sale, de-cluttering, often spending tons of money on storage units, new carpet, paint, refreshing the landscaping, and staging. Not to mention all the times you ducked out of the house with kids and diaper bags in tow so a last minute buyer and his agent could come through.
You’re at about the half-way point in the process when you ratify a contract. The work of the lender, title company, buying and listing agent take over now. But just to clear the deck as to what to expect, here’s the process pretty much as it will unfold:
1. Ratified Contract Disbursed. A copy of the ratified contract will be disbursed to all parties, the buyer’s lender, the title company that is selected to close the deal, and also to you for your files.
2. Buyer Will Complete the Loan Application Process. The buyer is now on the clock to get the lender all necessary documents to enable the lender to meet the “financing contingency” deadline.
3. Buyer’s agent will schedule and conduct the home inspection. This is typically done within the first few days of ratification, and typically no longer than seven days. This is our first “big” hurdle. The buyer’s agent will submit to us any requested home inspection items they would like us to address, and we will negotiate a fair and reasonable resolution to items requested.
4. If your home is located in a community with a Home Owner’s Association, or a is a condo, we will order the “resale package” and deliver to the buyer’s agent for their review. They have three days to review these documents and alert us to any issues, at which time the resale package contingency is removed.
5. The next “big” hurdle is the appraisal contingency. If the appraisal comes in at contract price or below, we’re happy. If, however, it does not appraise for contract price, then we go back to the negotiating table yet again. The chances of this occurring are rare, because if we have priced your property correctly, then the appraisal should be a walk–in-the park!
6. Once the appraisal contingency has been removed, the lender is then able to remove the financing contingency, our last major step before closing.
7. As the seller you are required to keep the utilities turned on through the day of closing, so be sure to keep that in mind. The buyer will need to have them on in order to do the final walk-through before closing.
8. Last step, you bring your driver’s license, and a smile on your face, and we meet at the Title Company and sell our home!
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