Step 17 to Buying a Home: Due Diligence is Successfully Concluded -- Now What?

Two things will happen at or before the end of the Due Diligence Period, either:

(a) We will successfully negotiate all of the repairs and/or questions you have about the property, the HOA/Condo Association, and other issues with the home, OR

(b) We will have concluded that the best step for you to take is terminate the contract and find a home that better suits your needs.

If we've taken option (b), then we are headed back to Steps 5 and 6 to find your dream home and resume showings.

However, if we've accomplished option (a), then we are over one big hurdle, and we are moving toward closing! At this point, it's likely that we only have two* remaining contingencies left to satisfy for your contract: your appraisal contingency and your financing contingency. We also have been working with your mortgage lender closely throughout this process to be sure that you are on track with those items.

Depending on the deadlines we set in your contract for those deadlines, it's probable that the lender is all set to order your appraisal or has already ordered it. Some lenders (and even some REALTORS®) may tell a buyer that the appraisal can wait to be ordered until the Due Diligence Period is over. They mean well by this statement -- they are looking to save the buyer the cost of the appraisal, in the event that the buyer ends up terminating the contract during Due Diligence. 

However, we like buyers to consider the appraisal cost as a normal cost of buying a home and to plan on it from the beginning. A buyer should never make an offer on a house that they don't fully intend -- at the outset, anyway -- to buy, and waiting to order that appraisal just in case you decide to terminate could mean missing the appraisal deadline and possibly putting the buyer's earnest money at risk.

Now would be a good time for you to also check in with your lender to make sure nothing more is needed from you at this time.

*If your home purchase is contingent on your current home selling/closing, then that is also a remaining contingency, and we will be discussing that contract in detail throughout this process, as well.