Offer to Keys: From Contract to Closing Day

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Inspections & Findings September 29, 2026 How to Read a Home Inspection Report: What Deficient Means The Texas report form says the inspector is not required to prioritize one deficiency over another. Three other documents do that sorting, and they agree. 19 min read

Offer to Keys

The Contract September 28, 2026 Waiving Contingencies When Buying a House: What You Give Up There is no waiver form. In four state contracts the giving-up is a blank, an unfilled fee, or the letters N/A — and each one has a different price. 16 min read
Contingencies & Deadlines September 27, 2026 Due Diligence Period Real Estate: What to Order, and When A ten-day due diligence period does not hold ten working days. Subtract the lender's fee restriction and the lab clocks, then order in this sequence. 16 min read
Closing Costs Line by Line September 10, 2026 Property Taxes Prorated at Closing: The Math The proration line shows a date range and an amount and no arithmetic. Two worked closings, one arrears county and one prepaid, rebuild it to the cent. 14 min read
Title, Survey & Escrow September 8, 2026 Property Survey Before Closing: Encroachments When to order the survey, who pays for it, and what happens to your closing when the plat shows the neighbor's fence two feet inside your line. 16 min read
Deals That Fell Apart September 5, 2026 Earnest Money Dispute: The Four Ways It Ends Terminating the contract and releasing the deposit are two separate signatures, and the second has a 7-day clock, a 15-day clock, and a courthouse behind it. 10 min read
The Contract August 29, 2026 Seller Disclosures: What Unknown and a Blank Mean Five states, five different forms, and on the federal lead attachment there is no box for 'I don't know'. What each answer commits a seller to. 12 min read
Closing Week August 28, 2026 Final Walkthrough Checklist: What to Do at 4 p.m. The walkthrough verifies promises the contract already made. What three state forms actually give you, and the four moves left when something is wrong at 4 p.m. 9 min read
Closing Costs Line by Line August 23, 2026 Closing Costs Explained: Who Receives Each Fee Origination, title, recording, transfer tax, prepaids, escrow: what each line on page 2 of the Closing Disclosure pays for, and which party actually banks it. 10 min read
Title, Survey & Escrow August 22, 2026 Title Commitment Schedule B: What It Stops Insuring Schedule A names you and the price. Schedule B is where the survey, the easement and a gap between two dates leave your policy. The clock to object is a blank. 15 min read
Lender Steps August 22, 2026 Underwriting Conditions: Why Clear to Close Slips Conditional approval, prior-to-doc, prior-to-funding: the three points where documents come back, and what your lender re-checks in the final 72 hours. 10 min read
Lender Steps August 21, 2026 Home Appraisal vs Inspection: What an Appraiser Checks Form 1004 names your lender as the only intended user. What the appraiser measures, photographs and rates on that visit, and what a low number lets you file. 12 min read

About this section

A mechanic's lien recorded in 2009 surfaced on the title commitment six days before closing, and that purchase ended there. The second one, two years later, went through — but only because Ellis Tran had by then learned to open Schedule B on the day it arrives instead of the day before signing. He is neither an agent nor a loan officer, recommends no lender and no loan product, and is paid nothing by anyone involved in a transaction. Each page names the rule it leans on — a CFPB regulation section, an ALTA form number, a state's own disclosure form — and links the original, so the wording can be checked against whatever your own file actually says.

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Every guide cites the agency, statute, or document it was checked against, and carries the date it was checked. Rules change — if something here is out of date, tell us and it gets corrected.