Navigating ‘Under Contract’

I know that buying and selling your house is one of the most stressful things you might do in your life. I am truly dedicated to making the process as seamless as I can and try to even make it fun! It really is a time each one of my clients should enjoy because you are investing in your future with every transaction! 

Most of my clients feel like once we get to the ‘Under Contract’ portion of the process, they can breathe a sigh of relief that the whole experience is “done”. Although it is a relief that we made or accepted an offer, nothing is done until that contract is signed at closing. There are many things we can do together to make sure your new or old house gets to that signature day with ease. 

After we are under contract, you want to make sure you are completely honest on your loan application. Please please, do not leave anything out with your lender. It will make every behind the scenes process go much smoother.

Once we get to put that under contract sign in the yard, you do not want to make any large significant purchases. Your normal every day spending for groceries and bills is totally fine, but please do not go out of your way to purchase a new car or go on a vacation around the world while we wait for closing day. 

Along with staying steady in your every day purchases, you want to make sure you keep your current paid job(s). When you are under contract is really not the best time to think about a career change or decide you are not happy with your current employer. Please choose to wait it out until after the lender helps us through the closing window before accepting a new position.

Finally, you do not want to apply for new credit cards or try to change banks during this short transition period in your life. It will make things take longer with your lender and could potentially prolong our closing window which could result in us losing the buyer or the seller of the home. 

All in all, once we go under contract you need to make sure everything stays the same as it was before committing to the deal. If you do that, things will go smoothly and I can do my job in getting us to the finish line. I created this short cheat sheet for my clients to help during this process. I hope it can help you, too!

~Katie

Cheat Sheet for going Under Contract