Contract to Keys

The day you go under contract, a clock starts. Earnest money gets delivered, and the inspection should be scheduled almost immediately — it anchors your due-diligence window. When the report comes back long (they all do), sort it into systems, safety, and cosmetics. Negotiate the first two; let the third go. Sellers respond to a short, reasonable repair list far better than a demand for perfection.

While you handle the inspection, your lender orders the appraisal. If it comes in at or above your price, you will barely notice it happened. If it comes in low, there are paths — renegotiate, cover a gap, or challenge it — and your agent has walked all of them. Meanwhile the quiet machinery runs: title search, survey, insurance binding, underwriting. Your job is speed — when the lender asks for a document, send it the same day.

The final week: you get clear-to-close, walk through the home the day before closing to confirm it is as agreed, and wire your funds. Verify wiring instructions by phone with the closing office — wire fraud targets exactly this moment. Then you sign, and the keys are yours.