Your offer was accepted! What happens next?

You’re buying a home, and your offer was accepted! Congratulations! But before you pop the champagne, there are a few additional tasks to be aware of. Once your offer an a home is accepted, you still have a list of pre-closing tasks that must be attended to before the title of the property is signed into your name. There are a few key things that are involved in the process such as organizing your finances, the home inspection, and the appraisal. They’re like the starting ingredients of your favourite dish; without them, the dish would be a flop! While there are a few other minor details that go into the process between signing the paperwork and receiving the keys, we’ve highlighted three of the most important below: 

Organize your finances

Show me the money! Now that your offer has been accepted, it’s time to make sure all of your finances are in order! If you’ve been pre-approved for a mortgage, this isn’t something you need to worry about. If you haven’t been pre-approved, this is the time to submit a mortgage application and hope you are eligible for the loan amount you need. In addition to your offer on the property, it is standard to provide approximately three to five per cent of the property’s value as a deposit. This shows the seller that you are serious about buying the home. This money is held by a neutral third party until all the conditions of the sale are met.

Home inspection

The inspection is an important part of the buying process. A home inspection should generally be requested before the closing. It is also usually a condition that’s written into the sales contract. This allows room for if there are any issues uncovered. If issues, like structural damage or plumbing, are uncovered during the inspection, you have a couple of different options. You can create a list of items that the home inspector noticed and request them to be repaired or walk away from the property. If it didn’t come back as satisfactory, at least three days before the final closing it is important to verify that the required repairs have been completed. If the home inspection came back satisfactory, you can contact your lender to order a home appraisal.

The appraisal

The appraisal on a home is a way that lenders verify the property’s market value. It is done by an unbiased real estate appraiser who objectively assesses the value of the home. They make a report that calculates the fair market value of the home by comparing it to other properties in the neighborhood that recently sold. A variant of the home appraisal may be done by taking the value of the land itself and the cost to build a home similar to it in quality and size. Both will give borrowers and lenders thorough information about the property itself and the surrounding neighborhood. The information gathered will then verify that the amount being requested by the borrower for the property is appropriate.

These are three of the major tasks you have to go through before receiving the keys to your new home. Keep in mind there are several other smaller tasks that need taking care of. All of which can be assisted by your realtor and mortgage broker. We can help you all throughout the pre-closing process like a sous chef helping plate the food on the dishes. When you’re ready to talk to a mortgage specialist, give us a call at Clinton Wilkins Mortgage Team! You can also get in touch with us here.