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Realtors
® different by design -
Let us do the “POLKing” around to find your new home or property!!
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ThePOLKTeam.com -Keller Williams Realty, Lanier Partners – 3730 Village Way, Ste 160 – Braselton, Ga 30517
Mobile: 404.372.6834 - Ea. Keller Williams Office is Independently Owned & Operated
MY HOUSE IS UNDER CONTRACT –
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
Posted by Mary Anne Walser, REALTOR
CONGRATULATIONS! You have a contract on your home. You have a willing and
able buyer and you have come to terms on the sale of the home. What happens
between now and closing?
Unless the buyer is purchasing “as is” (usually not the case) the buyer has a “DUE
DILIGENCE PERIOD” – typically somewhere between 7 and 14 days. During that
time the buyer can terminate the contract for any reason or no reason at all. The
buyer can simply send a notice of termination and the deal is over – you are left
with an unsold house and a search for the next buyer.
But do not worry – it does not often happen like that. Instead, the buyer will have
an INSPECTION – by a certified home inspector. The inspector’s job is to find
anything and everything that is wrong with the place, so don’t be surprised or
offended. Also, the standard inspection report is about 30 pages long – so don’t
panic about that either. It contains a lot of OTHER information in addition to any
“problems” the inspector has found with your home.
After the inspection, the buyer will provide the inspection report to you and ask
you to fix items that the inspector says need to be fixed. They might ask for
EVERYTHING, so be prepared for that – but more often the buyer will pick what is
most important to THEM. You can either agree to fix these items, or you can
negotiate a dollar amount to compensate for the things you don’t want to fix.
You don’t have to agree to do ANYTHING, but it’s best to be as reasonable as you
can – because again, during this period, the buyer is able to TERMINATE the
contract for any reason or no reason at all.
____________________________________________________________________________
Realtors
® different by design -
Let us do the “POLKing” around to find your new home or property!!
____________________________________________________________________________
ThePOLKTeam.com -Keller Williams Realty, Lanier Partners – 3730 Village Way, Ste 160 – Braselton, Ga 30517
Mobile: 404.372.6834 - Ea. Keller Williams Office is Independently Owned & Operated
Once the due diligence period ends, the buyer cannot back out of the contract
(except under a different, applicable contingency – financing or appraisal, for
instance). If they back out prior to closing and no other contingency gets them
out of the contract, they lose their earnest money. You, the Seller, can then claim
that earnest money OR you can sue for damages. But rest assured – a vast
majority of the time buyers do NOT back out once the due diligence expires.
There may also be the aforementioned FINANCING and/or APPRAISAL
contingency associated with the contract. The financing contingency gives the
buyer an OUT from the contract if they are unable to obtain financing. The period
can be anywhere from 7 days to 30 days. As a seller, you have likely insisted on a
prequalification letter from a lender – so you know the buyer at least HAS talked
to a lender – and have negotiated as short a period as possible.
The appraisal contingency is sometimes a longer contingency. Sellers attempt to
negotiate as short a period as possible, of course, but the problem is that many
lenders are ordering multiple appraisals – sometimes even the day prior to
closing. So imagine the buyer’s dilemma. They think that the property has
appraised and there’s no problem – and then the lender orders ANOTHER
appraisal and it comes in low. As a seller, all we can do is keep in contact with the
buyer’s agent and make sure that at least the first appraisal is ordered in a timely
manner. There’s no way to know in advance if the lender is going to order
multiple appraisals. It is not the norm, but it can and does happen.
Say the property does NOT appraise for the contract price – it appraises for less.
In that instance, if we are still within the appraisal contingency period, the buyer
can (and will) ask the seller to sell the property for the lower price. If the seller
refuses, the buyer can walk from the contract. But if the seller AGREES to sell for
the lower price, the buyer is bound (unless another contingency applies). One
sticky issue here can be when the seller has agreed to pay for some of the buyer’s
____________________________________________________________________________
Realtors
® different by design -
Let us do the “POLKing” around to find your new home or property!!
____________________________________________________________________________
ThePOLKTeam.com -Keller Williams Realty, Lanier Partners – 3730 Village Way, Ste 160 – Braselton, Ga 30517
Mobile: 404.372.6834 - Ea. Keller Williams Office is Independently Owned & Operated
closing costs. Say the contract is for $100,000, seller paying $5,000 of the buyer’s
closing costs, and the appraisal comes in at $95,000. Well, that’s what the buyer
is REALLY paying, right? Because they are effectively getting $5,000 back. STILL,
the buyer has the right to insist that the seller lower the purchase price AND keep
the closing costs in.
What happens NOW?!?! All contingency periods are up. We are waiting for
closing.
Time to have all your utilities disconnected as of the day of closing, except for
water. It is common to leave water on for three days after closing. The reason
for this is that the buyer must present a closing statement to get water service –
and, of course, they won’t have the statement until the day of closing. In
addition to scheduling the disconnection of utilities, do not forget to put in a
change of address with the postal service –
www.usps.gov – and notify your credit
card companies, magazine subscriptions, and the like of your new address.
What can you leave in the place?
Best to leave nothing except what was agreed to in the contract (with the
exception of any manuals for left appliances or the neighborhood directory). If
you want to leave anything else, or think the buyer might want you to, get your
agent to get the okay from the buyer. A typical issue here is that you cannot
leave old paint cans unless the buyer says it is okay, for instance. (Paint is not
always easy to dispose of). Then, hire someone to do one last, final, deep
cleaning. All that is required under the contract (unless there is a special
stipulation) is that the home be left “broom clean” – floors and carpets swept,
horizontal surfaces wiped down, ovens and fireplaces cleaned, etc. But you don’t
____________________________________________________________________________
Realtors
® different by design -
Let us do the “POLKing” around to find your new home or property!!
____________________________________________________________________________
ThePOLKTeam.com -Keller Williams Realty, Lanier Partners – 3730 Village Way, Ste 160 – Braselton, Ga 30517
Mobile: 404.372.6834 - Ea. Keller Williams Office is Independently Owned & Operated
want to have an issue the day of closing over dirt; simpler to pay someone to do
one last sweep.
Then, to closing it is! Your job at that point is to bring all keys and remotes to the
closing table. Most of the documents will be signed by the buyer – you will have
only a few. You can give the buyer a forwarding address and/or email if you so
choose – but that is by no means required. You can always ask them to contact
your agent if mail arrives for you after closing. If you have gain from the
transaction, you will be given a check at the closing table or you can have it wired
directly to an account (this can be arranged ahead of time).
And you are done!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
You have sold your home in a difficult market!
P.S. - You should follow
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