What's Next After Your Offer is Accepted? How to Close on Your New Home and Get the Keys

Congratulations! The seller accepted your offer and you are now legally under contract. When you look on home sale sites like Zillow you'll likely see "under contract" or "pending" on the listing... That means you! But... now what? This article will walk you through the process to make things official, all the way through getting the keys.

1. Read Buyer Recommendations

This should be provided by your realtor regarding actions you should take. Act on them or seek guidance.

Exercise: What are the buyer's recommendations? 

Which will you act on, how and when? Do you have any questions? Pass on any questions to your realtor urgently.

2. Pay Earnest Money

You likely only have about 3 days (though it will explicitly be stated on your contract) from offer acceptance to pay earnest money. Earnest money is essentially a deposit on the house. It demonstrates that you are "earnest" about the purchase.

If you back out of the sale early enough (e.g., during due diligence), you get the money back. If you back out too late, it goes to the seller for wasting their time. Ask your realtor about who you need to pay the earnest money to, as it's likely a third party. Independently verify any links, especially if they aren't sent from your realtor directly because fraud and scams are real.

3. Do Your Due Diligence

You likely only have about 5 days (though it will explicitly be stated on your contract) from offer acceptance to complete due diligence. This means learning as much as you can about the house to make sure you know what you're getting into. If you find issues during due diligence you can negotiate (for example, for a reduced home price) or back out of the sale. After due diligence it's too late to do this without repercussions.

During due diligence, at minimum you need a general home inspection. Ask your realtor for a recommendation for who to use or do your own research. In addition to the standard home inspection, optional add-on inspections may include (for a price) mold, radon, sewer, termite, property survey, zoning/permits, water, or lead-based paint. Don't take for granted that your realtor will volunteer the complete list of what they recommend, you may need to specifically ask. And remember, ultimately it's up to you; you do not need to take their recommendation no-questions-asked.

Exercise: Inspection add-ons.
Besides the standard inspection, what additional inspections do you want, if any? Depending on the inspection, it may require another party, so communicate this list to your realtor and inspector urgently. If you wait to decide until during or after the home inspection, you may run out of time.

4. Attend the Home Inspection

Be there in person and after the inspection, read the report immediately and carefully. This is time sensitive. Align with your realtor on what you're going to ask the seller' to pay for or fix before you move. Some questions you may ask your inspector include:

• Any structural issues?

• Did you check for mold?

• Did you open all windows and doors?

• Any signs of pests?

• Where is the emergency gas/water/electrical shut off? Gas
  

• Are there any crawl spaces besides attic?

• Is the roof in good shape?
  

• How are the gutters?

• Is the house well insulated?

• Anything I should know about how to maintain the property?

Exercise: What did the inspection reveal?
Did the inspection find anything meaningful? Will you ask for it to be fixed, for a reduced price, or something else? Is anything significant enough to back out of the sale?

5. Compare and Choose Home Insurance

Get at least three quotes and compare monthly/annual price, deductible, and how much coverage you're getting. Some insurance providers may ask some pretty specific details about the house in order to get an accurate quote. The answers to many of these questions are likely on the results from the home inspection (e.g., roof and siding material).

There may also be supplemental insurance recommended for the area (for example, flood). Ask your realtor if you're unfamiliar with the area. Things like flood damage usually aren't covered by regular property insurance, so be diligent about what you really need.

6. Get Owner's Title Insurance and Home Warranty

Owner's title insurance is probably optional where you live, but is recommended in some states. It protects you if anyone else tries to make a claim on the property. You may be able to buy this from the real estate attorney during closing. Ask your realtor is you're unsure.

If you're buying new construction or a pretty new home your home may still be under the builder's warranty so read that carefully first because in this case, a home warranty will be redundant. Warranties expire at different times, so look at that closely. For example, your home's structure may still under warranty, while the other warranties have expired. If you'd like to buy a warranty, ask your realtor if they will facilitate it or if you should do this on your own.

7. Book Movers

Book movers well in advance so you can get the date you want. Sometimes you're responsible for things like permits so the movers can park on the street, more common if you're moving to or from a busy part of the city. Will they pack for you? Will they provide boxes? Will they move house plants? (Many won't, which surprised us.) How do they charge? By the box? By the hour? Do they offer coverage in case your things are damaged? How long will it take for your things to arrive at the new house? If you're moving far, it may take weeks so keep that in mind and ask for an estimate. Get a recommendation from someone you trust if possible.

8. Decide What You Want Done Before Moving Day

If you're considering doing some touch-ups, it may be easier to do before you move all your stuff in. And sometimes it's also less expensive too since the service providers won't have to worry about working around furniture. Do you want it painted, deep cleaned, floors updated, locks changed? Anything that you want done between getting the keys and moving day likely needs to scheduled ahead of time since that's probably a pretty narrow window of time. Ask your realtor if you can do walkthroughs with your vendors before you get this keys. This might not be possible, but you might as well ask.

9. Set Up Utilities

Look into your utilities and start setting them up if you can. Set up all utilities including water, sewer, gas, and electrical service for the home before or upon closing. Certain cities and counties require you to fax or email the settlement statement immediately following closing to avoid interruption of service. Any delay past when the seller has scheduled them to end could result in additional fees.

Other services to think about include cable, internet, security system, trash, and recycling.

10. Sign the Contract

At this point, all of the negotiation is very likely complete. The contract will reflect any relevant updates and spells out the terms of your mortgage. You'll be asked to sign and return this form.

11. Do a Final Walkthrough

1-2 days before closing you should walk through the house one more time to make sure it's still standing and that all of the repairs the sellers agreed to do are taken care of. If your realtor doesn't volunteer this, ask.

12. Review the Settlement Statement

You'll get this 1-3 business days before closing. It will outline the exact and final amounts due.

13. Wire Funds

Wire funds according to the settlement statement. You should have received wiring instructions from the closing attorney earlier and they should not have changed. If you received a follow up email suggesting they have changed, it's probably fraud. Do not send the money and confirm you are using validated contact information, for example, by accessing the website directly from the web without clicking any links or calling any numbers provided in the new email. Make sure the funds arrive before the closing appointment to avoid any delays.

This likely includes the closing costs we talked about in the article on Getting Started. You've likely already paid the earnest money and for the inspection, and handled home insurance separately, so this list is a little shorter than before. Yay! Remember, these are just examples and may or may not apply to you.

• County recording fees

• County transfer tax

• Home owner’s association (HOA) monthly dues

• HOA initiation fee

• Home warranty

• Owner's title insurance

• Recording services

• Title exam

• Wire protection fee

14. Attend the Closing Appointment

This is it the moment you've been waiting for. The big meeting where you sign a lot of paperwork and (more excitingly) get the keys. The closing appointment is very likely in person. You will need to at least bring your ID and a check just in case, but confirm with your closing attorney before your appoint if there is anything else you'll need. After this appointment, the house is yours!