What To Do After Accepting Your Buyer's Offer

Congratulations, you have accepted an offer to purchase your home! Now what?  

1. The buyers are going to start scheduling inspections. They will most likely do a whole home inspection, perhaps a roof, well, or septic inspection, and even a termite inspection. Allow the buyers as much time as they need to get these inspections done because they need to get an accurate picture of the condition of your home. The last thing you want is for them to move in and sue you because you did not disclose any major flaws that you were aware of at the time of the sale.

2. Start packing! You probably started packing up all of your momentos and knickknacks before putting your home on the market. Continue to get things packed up so you’re not in a mad rush to do it at the end.

3. Make sure you have hired movers well in advance of closing day. There is nothing more stressful than having movers at the house loading the truck when you are supposed to close and turn over the keys to the new owner within hours. Plan to move out at least two days in advance so that you have time to go back and make sure the house is clean prior to the closing.

4. Sign anything your agent sends to you as quickly as possible. Delays in getting signatures on contractual items can cause unnecessary delays. You do not want to close later than necessary simply because people didn’t do their paperwork in a timely fashion.

5. Make sure remotes for the TV, the garage door opener, keys to the shed, keys to the house, keys to the community pool and other amenities are all clearly labeled and don’t get mixed in with your packing boxes.

6. Send your mortgage information to the closing attorney or escrow company. They will handle paying off your existing mortgage balance, if any, with the proceeds from the sale. In order for you to know exactly how much money you will make after a successful sale, they need to know the exact payoff to your mortgage company.

7. Celebrate! You have successfully sold your house and moved on to the next chapter of your life.