The Moment You Sign the Contract, the Clock Starts

You made an offer. The seller accepted. Your agent sends you a signed contract and says "congratulations, you're under contract." Then your phone goes quiet and you think: now what?

This is the part nobody really explains well. The under-contract period, usually 21 to 45 days depending on your financing and the market, is genuinely the most complex stretch of the entire home buying process. There are inspectors, appraisers, underwriters, title companies, and insurance agents all moving at the same time. Miss a deadline, and you could lose your earnest money. Understand the sequence, and you stay in control.

Let me walk you through it the way I'd explain it to a friend sitting across the table from me.

Day One to Three: Get Your Earnest Money in and Your Loan Moving

The first thing that happens after you sign a contract is earnest money. In the Austin market, covering Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties, that's typically 1% of the purchase price, though in competitive neighborhoods like Westlake or Lakeway it sometimes runs higher. This money goes into an escrow account held by the title company. It's not a fee. It applies toward your down payment or closing costs at the end. But if you walk away from the deal without a valid contract reason, you can lose it.

At the same time, you need to formally submit your loan application if you haven't already. Pre-approval gets you to the table. An actual loan application with a signed contract attached kicks off the legal countdown for your lender. Under federal law, your lender has three business days to send you a Loan Estimate, a standardized document that shows your expected rate, monthly payment, and closing costs.

This is also when you lock your interest rate, or decide when to lock it. Your loan officer should talk you through the tradeoffs. There's no crystal ball on rate movement, but once you're under contract with a closing date, locking sooner rather than later usually reduces stress.

Days Three to Ten: The Inspection Window

Most purchase contracts in Texas give you a specific option period, usually five to ten days, during which you can back out for any reason and keep your earnest money. You pay a small option fee for this right, typically a few hundred dollars, and that fee is non-refundable but often applies to closing costs.

Use that option period to get a home inspection. A licensed inspector spends two to four hours going through the property from roof to foundation. They're looking at the structure, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, windows, and more. A good inspection report might run 40 to 80 pages. That doesn't mean the house is falling apart. It means the inspector is doing their job.

What You Do With the Inspection Results

You have a few choices after an inspection:

  1. Accept the home as-is and move forward.
  2. Ask the seller to make specific repairs before closing.
  3. Ask for a price reduction or seller credit instead of repairs.
  4. Walk away during the option period if something major turns up.

For first-time buyers, I almost always recommend asking for a credit toward closing costs rather than actual repairs. You don't know how a seller will fix something. A credit lets you hire your own contractor after closing and do it right.

Depending on the property and loan type, you may also want a specialty inspection. Older homes in Round Rock or Cedar Park with mature trees sometimes need a separate foundation inspection. Homes built before 1980 might warrant a mold or asbestos check.

Days Seven to Twenty-One: Your Lender Is Working Behind the Scenes

While you're focused on inspections, your lender is building your loan file. This is the underwriting phase, and it's where most first-time buyers get confused because it's largely invisible to you.

What Underwriting Actually Is

An underwriter is the person at the lender who gives the final yes or no on your loan. They're reviewing your income, employment, credit, assets, and the property itself. Think of your loan officer as the person who prepares the file and your advocate. The underwriter is the judge.

For FHA loans, the underwriter is checking that you meet FHA guidelines as well as the lender's own overlays. For a Conventional loan backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, they're running your file against those guidelines. The specific loan program matters here because the rules are genuinely different.

During underwriting you will almost certainly get a list of conditions. These are additional documents the underwriter needs before they can approve your loan. Common conditions include:

  • A letter of explanation for a gap in employment
  • Proof that a large deposit in your bank account was a gift and not a loan
  • Updated pay stubs if your closing date is more than 30 days from your last ones
  • Homeowner's insurance binder showing the lender as the mortgagee

Respond to these quickly. Conditions that sit unanswered are the number one reason closings get delayed.

If you want to model out how different loan scenarios affect your monthly payment and cash to close before you're deep in the process, the MyLoanIQ Scenario Builder is genuinely useful for this. It lets you run side-by-side comparisons on things like FHA versus Conventional with different down payment amounts.

Days Ten to Twenty-Five: The Appraisal

Your lender orders an appraisal, usually shortly after you go under contract. A licensed appraiser visits the property and produces a report estimating its market value. The lender uses this number to make sure they aren't lending more than the home is worth.

The Three Appraisal Outcomes

Here's what can happen:

The appraisal comes in at or above your purchase price. This is the happy path. Your loan moves forward.

The appraisal comes in below your purchase price. Now you have a gap. Your loan is based on the lower appraised value, so you'd need to make up the difference in cash, renegotiate the purchase price with the seller, or in some cases challenge the appraisal with comparable sales data. This is called an appraisal gap, and it's something your agent should have discussed with you before you wrote your offer.

The appraiser flags the property condition. For FHA loans especially, appraisers are required to note health and safety issues. Peeling paint, missing handrails, broken windows, these can become required repairs before the loan can close. A Conventional appraisal has fewer condition requirements, which is one reason sellers sometimes prefer Conventional offers.

Days Fourteen to Thirty: Title Work and Insurance

The title company is running a title search on the property, making sure the seller actually has the legal right to sell it and that there are no outstanding liens, unpaid taxes, or ownership disputes attached to the home. This work happens mostly in the background, but it matters a lot.

You'll also need to purchase a homeowner's insurance policy and have it in place before closing. Your lender needs the declarations page showing the property is insured and that the lender is listed as the mortgagee. In Central Texas, insurance has gotten genuinely complicated due to weather history, so give yourself time to shop.

Three Days Before Closing: The Closing Disclosure Arrives

At least three business days before your closing date, your lender is required by law to send you a Closing Disclosure. This is the final version of your loan terms and closing costs. Compare it carefully to your original Loan Estimate.

Some changes are normal. Some are not allowed. If your lender's origination fees increased significantly with no explanation, ask questions. A good loan officer will walk you through the CD line by line before you ever get to the closing table.

This is also when you wire your closing funds or arrange a cashier's check. Never wire money based on email instructions alone. Call your title company directly using a phone number you find independently to confirm wiring instructions. Wire fraud targeting homebuyers is real and it happens in Austin.

Closing Day: You're Finally at the Finish Line

Closing typically takes one to two hours. You'll sign a stack of documents, most of which are loan disclosures and legal acknowledgments. The title company walks you through everything. You hand over your certified funds. The lender funds the loan. The deed records with the county. You get the keys.

For buyers using MyLoanIQ's Affordability and Income calculator, this is the moment that payment estimate becomes a real mortgage statement. The numbers you modeled are now your actual loan.

A few things to know for that day: bring your photo ID. Confirm the exact amount you need to bring at least 24 hours before. And do your final walkthrough of the property the day before or the morning of closing to confirm the condition hasn't changed since inspection.

The Under-Contract Period Is Manageable When You Know What's Coming

Most first-time buyers feel anxious during this stretch because they don't know what's supposed to be happening. Now you do. Inspections in the first week. Appraisal in the second and third week. Underwriting conditions rolling in throughout. Insurance and title running parallel. Closing Disclosure three days out. Keys at the table.

Every deal has its own wrinkles. Maybe the appraisal comes in low. Maybe underwriting needs an extra document. The buyers who navigate this well are the ones who respond fast, stay in communication with their loan officer, and don't make major financial moves (new debt, job changes, large cash movements) between contract and closing.

If you're getting ready to make an offer or you're already under contract and trying to figure out what comes next, I'm happy to walk through your specific situation.

Want to walk through your numbers? Talk to Austen.

Austen Smith, NMLS #265697. Barton Creek Lending Group, NMLS #264320. This post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute a commitment to lend or a guarantee of loan approval or specific loan terms.