process of closing on a house?

DH and I found a house, made an offer and it was accepted (yay! ).

We had the inspection yesterday and there were two small things that needed to be addressed by the current owners but otherwise, no problems. The Realtor said we would just add those into the contract.

Do i call my lawyer now to start writing the contract, or should I wait until the inspector sends over his official report?

TIA

Re: process of closing on a house?

Defiantly call the lawyer to let them know what stage of the process you're at. Good luck!

Re: process of closing on a house?

Congratulations on the accepted offer!

The seller's attorney is actually the one to prepare the contract, but you should call your attorney and let them know that you have an accepted offer, the inspection's been done, and he or she should be hearing from the seller's attorney shortly.

As a real estate agent, when I am working with a buyer (or a seller), I always send over all of the relevant information to my client's attorney, including a copy of the sales agreement (i.e.,, your written offer), a copy of the listing, a copy of your preapproval/lender info, etc. I usually type of a memo summarizing the key points that the parties have negotiated (re: price, closing date, etc.) and provide them with my contact info. So you may want to suggest that your agent do that, if she hasn't already.

As far as the inspection items - did the sellers already agree to take care of the items? If so, then I would let your attorney know that. But generally any repairs aren't put into the body of the contract -- it could hurt you with your lender. They may be put in a side agreement or rider to the contract.

But if your real estate agent hasn't addressed the items yet with the listing agent, I would have her do that. It's easier for the agents to address any home inspection issues than for the attorneys to do it, since the attorneys don't know the house and haven't negotiated the sale thus far. You can always send your attorney the inspection report, but in my experience, most attorneys don't really want it or read it unless you need them to get involved in negotiating issues pertaining to the report (and most prefer not to)!

You should also tell your lender that you have an accepted offer. Although you will need an executed contract to complete your mortgage application, your loan officer can tell you what things to start gathering/preparing, so that when the contract is signed, you will be able to submit your loan application asap.

Good luck!