On The Road To Buying A House: Finding The One

The phone rang at about 10:00 a.m. this morning. It was the real estate agent calling to tell us that we were awarded the bid we put in on the house.  We already sort of knew we would get it because we were the only bidders, but it was such a relief to hear the words “Mrs. Fabgrandma, you got the bid!”

The next step was to go to the post office in town to get a $500 money order to send with the signed contract. This deposit is called earnest money, and tells the seller you are in fact going to go through with the contract to purchase the house. If you back out after this point, you forfeit the earnest money. However, if for some reason the seller calls off the deal, or you can’t get financing, you ARE able to recover the earnest money.

We purchased a post office money order to pay our earnest money deposit because the seller required certified funds. You can also get a cashier’s check at your bank if you prefer. From the post office, we drove over to the real estate office to sign some papers.

At the real estate office, Steve, the realtor, explained each piece of paper we had to sign. (I told you that paperwork would grow!) Here are all the papers we had to sign today:

• The Sales Contract
• The Certification of Accuracy
• Radon Gas and Mold Notice
• Individual Owner-Occupant Certification
• A flyer informing us of our right and need to get an inspection
• Closing Date Extension Policy
• Forfeiture of Earnest Money Policy
• Purchaser’s Rights and Responsibilities
• Other Important Information
• We also received a copy of our pre-qualification letter from the lender.

Now, we wait some more. The seller has a week to sign the contract, THEN we have to actually apply for a home loan. Sigh….