You've Accepted the Offer. Now What?

By Diana Pullen | Listing Specialist, Real Broker LLC | Serving Redmond, Bend, Terrebonne, Culver, Sisters, Prineville, Madras, La Pine, and surrounding communities

The offer is signed. Champagne might be premature, but you can exhale a little. Then, almost immediately, a new question shows up: now what?

This is one of the most common questions I get from sellers, and it makes total sense. You've spent weeks, maybe months, focused entirely on getting an offer. Nobody really explains what happens in the 30 to 45 days between acceptance and closing, so let's walk through it.

The First Few Days: Earnest Money and Timelines Start the Clock

Once you accept an offer, the buyer typically has a short window, often 1 to 3 business days, to deliver their earnest money deposit to the title or escrow company. This is a good-faith deposit, usually 1 to 3% of the purchase price, that shows the buyer is serious and gives you some protection if they walk away without cause later.

At the same time, your closing timeline officially starts. Everything that follows; inspection, appraisal, financing, closing; is measured against the dates written into your purchase agreement. This is why the contract terms matter so much before you ever sign; once it's accepted, those dates are real and they move fast.

The Inspection Period: Where Most of the Anxiety Lives

In Oregon, the buyer's inspection period is typically 10 business days from acceptance. During this window, the buyer will schedule a general home inspection and possibly specialized inspections; well, septic, radon, or others depending on your property and the area.

This is the part of the process that makes most sellers nervous, and I understand why. You've lived in this home for years, maybe decades. An inspector walking through with a flashlight and a checklist can feel invasive. Here's what actually happens: the inspector documents the condition of the home, the buyer reviews the report, and then one of three things happens. They accept the home as-is and move forward. They request repairs or a credit for specific issues. Or, in rare cases, they use the inspection period to cancel the contract.

If you did a pre-listing inspection (and if you're reading this after the fact, that's okay; we'll talk about what to do now), there typically aren't surprises here. If you didn't, this is where unexpected items can surface. Either way, the buyer's request after inspection is not the final word; it's the start of a conversation. Most inspection responses get resolved through negotiation, not through the deal falling apart.

The Appraisal: If Your Buyer Is Financing

If your buyer is using a mortgage, their lender will order an appraisal, usually within the first one to two weeks after acceptance. The appraiser visits your home, evaluates its condition, and compares it to recent comparable sales to confirm the home is worth what the buyer agreed to pay.

In a well-priced listing, this is usually a non-event. The appraisal comes in at or above the purchase price, the lender proceeds, and you move forward. If the appraisal comes in low, that opens a separate negotiation; the buyer may ask you to reduce the price, may bring additional cash to cover the gap, or in some cases the deal may need to be restructured. This is one more reason accurate pricing from the start matters so much; it protects you not just at the offer stage but all the way through to closing.

What's Happening Behind the Scenes: Underwriting

While you may not see much activity during the middle weeks of your transaction, your buyer's loan is moving through underwriting. The lender is verifying income, assets, employment, and finalizing loan approval. This typically takes two to four weeks depending on the lender and loan type.

This is the quietest part of the process from your perspective as the seller, but it's also one of the most important. Underwriting delays are one of the more common reasons closings get pushed back. If your agent or the buyer's agent mentions a delay here, it's usually administrative, not a sign that something is wrong with the deal.

What You Should Be Doing During This Window

While the buyer's side of the transaction moves through inspection, appraisal, and underwriting, you have your own list. Continue any agreed-upon repairs from the inspection negotiation. Keep the home in the same condition it was in when the buyer made their offer; this matters more than people realize, since most contracts include a final walkthrough close to closing day. Start planning your move logistically; movers, address changes, utility transfers. And stay in communication with your agent about your own timeline; if you need extra time after closing to be out of the home, or if you need to close faster, this is the time to have that conversation, not the week before closing.

Closing Day

In Oregon, closing happens through an escrow and title process, not in person across a table. Documents are typically signed in advance, sometimes electronically, and funds are wired or distributed once everything is finalized. You'll receive your net proceeds, typically via wire transfer, shortly after closing is recorded.

A clean closing is, frankly, a little anticlimactic after everything leading up to it. That's a good thing. The drama, if there's going to be any, almost always happens during inspection or appraisal; not on closing day itself.

What Derails a Transaction Between Offer and Close

In my experience, the things that cause real problems in this window are usually one of three: deferred maintenance that surfaces during inspection and wasn't priced into the deal, an appraisal gap on a home that was priced above what the comps support, or a seller who wasn't prepared for the back-and-forth of the inspection response period and treats reasonable buyer requests as personal or adversarial.

All three of these are manageable, and most are preventable with the right preparation before you ever list. If you're already under contract and one of these is happening to you right now, take a breath; this is normal, it's not unusual, and it's almost always solvable with the right conversation.

You're Not Alone in This Part

The period between accepting an offer and closing is where a lot of sellers feel like they've lost control, simply because so much of what happens next depends on other people; the buyer's lender, the inspector, the appraiser, the title company. That's a normal feeling. It's also exactly why having a listing agent who communicates clearly through every step matters more here than at almost any other point in the transaction.

My approach with every seller I work with is simple: I tell you what just happened, what's happening right now, and what to expect next. No surprises, no "checking in" calls that don't actually tell you anything. Just clear communication so you always know where things stand.

If you're heading toward this stage of a sale, or if you're already in it and have questions about what's normal versus what's a red flag, I'm happy to talk it through.

Diana Pullen | Listing Specialist
Real Broker LLC | Central Oregon
541.398.5770 | soldincentraloregon.com

Schedule a call: calendly.com/dianapullen-realtor/30min

This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Closing timelines and procedures can vary by transaction and lender. Consult your agent and escrow officer for guidance specific to your sale.