After days of reviewing bids from buyers for your home, comparing offer prices, contingencies and closing dates, we decided and verbally accepted an offer. Excellent news!
Now what? Hold that champagne! We have to get each of our ducks lined in a row before successfully consummating the deal.
The listing agent must communicate the homeowner’s acceptance of the contract and the buyer must verbally agree. The buyer can still reject the offer – or, more likely, a counteroffer – from the seller at any time until the agreement is signed.
A legally binding contract is formed only when an offer is accepted, signed by all parties and a copy of the agreement is in the hands of the buyer or his/her representative. This is known as “mutual acceptance.” All terms in the contract must be honored and cannot change unless both parties agree in writing. (In Washington state, an oral agreement is not binding.)
The contract includes timelines that your listing agent will track with you. Those dates, for example, allow for the buyer to transfer the earnest money check to escrow – typically within three days of mutual acceptance – and to complete a home inspection (unless the inspection was waived). The accepted contract also means your listing agent will stop showing the home to prospective buyers.
Having purchased a house or condo in the past, homeowners should remember the role of escrow agents. They are state-licensed, neutral third parties that handle and coordinate title and escrow work, transaction instructions, paying off existing mortgages, prorating property taxes and other paperwork related to the purchase and sale. (We cover the seller’s responsibilities with escrow in this blog post.)
Sellers will be kept informed by both the escrow representative and listing agent. They will share details with sellers in the coming days about the buyer’s duties and timelines – all in an effort to give sellers the confidence that the process is working itself out.
It’s too early to start celebrating or even calling moving companies (unless you’re required to move asap for a new job, for example) – but we’re inching closer to that moment. Yes, there are a few more ducks to line up.