What Happens After You're Offer to Buy is Accepted

Finding a home to buy and negotiating the purchase is rarely easy. After you've successfully completed the negotiations, it's time to celebrate. As soon as the euphoria wears off, you may be wondering what happens next. Within a few days after the sellers accept your offer, your good faith deposit check is cashed. A neutral depository holds the money until the sale is either closed or cancelled. Who holds your money depends on where you're buying. Some states, like California, use escrow accounts to handle the financial aspects of a home sale. In other states, your broker or attorney may take care of these details. Make sure that you have sufficient funds in the account on which you wrote the deposit check. If you need to transfer funds from one account to another, let your agent or transaction coordinator know. Your contract should include contingencies to protect you. A contingency is a condition that must be satisfied for the sale to go through. If a contingency can't be satisfied, the sale is usually cancelled and the buyer's deposit returned. Common contract contingencies are for inspections and financing. An inspection contingency usually entitles the buyers to inspect the property to their satisfaction. A financing contingency makes the purchase contingent on the buyers obtaining the financing they'll need to close the sale. Your contract may include other contingencies, such as for the sale of another property.