Escrow, Inspections & Appraisals

Overview Find a Selling Agent Prepare to Sell Accept an Offer Escrow Closing

Accepting a buyer's offer is only the beginning. Once you accept an offer, its time to enter the escrow process, where the buyer waits for bank approval, secures financing, conducts home inspections, appraisals, walk-throughs, and more. All to ensure a legally sound transaction. If conditions are not met or there is a problem with the property, or it appraises at too low a value, the buyer can easily walk away from the deal. A home is never really sold until the escrow process is complete.

Home Inspections & Appraisals

The contract to purchase is contingent upon various items, one of the most important being a property inspection by a licensed inspector. Some buyers hire multiple inspectors to go through the property. This is especially true when they seek opinions on specific aspects of the home like the roof, HVAC, foundation, and so on.

If the purchase agreement is conditional on buyer financing, the property will need to be appraised by a licensed appraiser. The lending institution will only approve the loan if the appraisal comes in above a certain percentage of the loan. If it is a commercial property, further inspections and audits will need to be performed, such as an enviornmental audit, soil test, and hazardoud materials test.

Title & Closing Agent

The closing agent is typically a title company or attorney. Their job is to ensure clear title to the seller's property. After throroughly researching the publicly recorded history of your property, they will certify one of two things:

• Your title is determined to be free and clear of all encumbrances by the day of closing.
• Any new encumbrances are duly included in the title.

Contingencies

Contingencies are conditions that must be met before a contract can be legally binding. Once of the most commmon contingencies involved in a home purchase is the home inspection. A buyer will virtually always include a contingency stating the purchase contract is only valid upon home inspection by a licensed inspector.

Before the purchae of the property is compelte, the buyer goes through several processes, as outlined in the purchase agreement and any applicable addendums. These include but are not limited to:

• Securing mortgage financing and homeowners insurance.
• Reviewing and validating all relevant documents, including title reports, disclosure documents, and appraisals
• A professional home inspection. The buyer has the right to determin the condition of your property based on a wide range of inspections including roof, mold, fireplace, pool, property boundaries, septic tank, lead based paint, HVAC, and more.

A professional home inspection will yield one of two results:

• The inspection is successful and this major contingency is removed, bringing you a big step closer to finalizing the sale.
• The inspection uncovers significant property defects, and the buyer would like to renegotiate the price.

During this period, it's very important to remain objective and unemotional. A great listing agent will know how to protect your interests, and defend you from unjustified discounts. Having dealt with various and diverse property sales, the team at Stevens Real Estate can masterfully guide you through this part of the process. We guarantee the full application of our expertise and committment to every single customer, independent of circumstances.