Selling Your Home: What Happens When You Land a Buyer

The tedious process of selling your home is almost over. You’ve finally secured a buyer.

You may be ready to pack your bags and leave, but hold on. You’re not done yet. What’s more, the sale isn’t final. There are a few more hurdles to jump over before you can get there.

What Happens After You Accept an Offer for Your Home

Once you have a buyer and you’ve accepted their offer, it’s time to get ready to close. The following steps happen after you get a buyer, but before closing (signing papers, paying fees, and handing over the keys).

1. The Buyer Pays Earnest Money

After you’ve accepted their offer, the buyer will put down earnest money. This money essentially shows that they’re “in earnest” about purchasing the house. In layman’s terms, they’re for real and they’re not scamming you.

This money is held by a third party until closing. Usually, most buyers will pay one to two percent of the total asking price in earnest money. If the sale falls through, the buyer gets this money back – most of the time.

2. You Provide the Seller’s Disclosure

After you accept the offer, you have to disclose any problems with your house or the neighborhood to the buyer. This is done through the seller’s disclosure.

Depending on your state’s laws, you have to supply certain information, such as structural or environmental issues. For example, maybe the roof will need replacing in a year, or your home is located on a flood plain.

Disclose everything you know to the best of your ability. You don’t want to face any legal issues later, when the buyer inevitably figures out what’s wrong on their own.

3. The Buyer Gets an Inspection/Appraisal

Most buyers get an inspection on their intended home for insurance. If anything wrong with the property comes to light, the buyer may want you to repair it. Or, they may negotiate a lower price to compensate for repairs. To keep the sale moving and avoid delays, you can give them a credit for repairs, too.

Additionally, if the buyers need a mortgage, they’ll get an appraisal. This is similar to an inspection, but the appraiser won’t be looking for issues – they’ll be assessing your home’s worth on behalf of the lender. The lender won’t loan anything higher than the appraised amount, so circumstances can change depending on the results.

If the appraisal is on-point or higher than the asking price, the sale can continue and closing can happen. If it’s lower than the asking price, the buyers may have to pay for the difference themselves. Or, they may want to try to negotiate with you to lower the price to match the appraisal.

To Close or Not to Close? The Final Question for Selling Your Home

If you have to step back and think about negotiating, you need to weigh how many other offers you had, your selling timeline, and whether you can afford to wait for a different buyer. If you encounter zero issues with any of the above steps, you’re good to close.