What Happens Between Going Under Contract and Closing?

By Tim Hollinden, Broker Associate | The Hollinden Team at eXp Realty

Quick Answer

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Going under contract feels like the finish line, but it's really the start of a defined process with real deadlines — most of them set by your contract, not a fixed calendar. For a buyer, that process comes down to seven stages: earnest money, the inspection period, the appraisal, loan underwriting, homeowners insurance, the final walkthrough, and closing day itself. Knowing what's coming at each stage is what makes this period feel manageable instead of stressful.

What You'll Learn

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• What earnest money actually is, and what happens to it
• How to use your inspection period as leverage, not just information
• What the appraisal actually protects, and who it's really for
• What "underwriting conditions" means, and what NOT to do while you're in it
• Why the final walkthrough exists, and what it isn't for
• What to actually expect on closing day itself

Tim's Take

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I've walked hundreds of buyers through this exact stretch, and the pattern is almost always the same: the offer gets accepted, there's a wave of relief, and then a week or two later someone calls me a little anxious because their lender is asking for a document they already sent, or the inspector found something and they don't know what to do about it. Most of the time, none of that means anything's wrong. It usually means the process is working the way it's supposed to.

Going under contract isn't a single event — it's the start of several parallel tracks (inspection, appraisal, financing, insurance) that all have to finish before you get to the closing table. A lot of what feels alarming during this stretch is just one of those tracks doing its job.

The Contract-to-Close Framework

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1. Earnest Money. Within a few days of going under contract, you'll typically wire or deliver a check for your earnest money — a good-faith deposit that shows the seller you're serious. It's held in escrow by the party designated in your contract, and it's credited toward your down payment or closing costs at closing. If the deal falls through for a reason your contract protects you on — a contingency you're entitled to use — you generally get it back. If it falls through because you simply changed your mind outside those protections, you may not. Knowing exactly what your specific contract's contingencies actually cover is worth a direct conversation with your agent, not an assumption.

2. The Inspection Period. This is usually the first real deadline on the calendar, and it's also where I see buyers waste the most leverage. The inspection isn't just information — it's your best negotiating window in the entire transaction. Once you're past it, your leverage changes completely. Use the time to get a full inspection (I recommend one in almost every purchase, even on newer homes), review the findings with your agent, and decide whether to request repairs, ask for a credit, walk away from the deal entirely, or move forward as-is. This is also the moment to have a frank conversation about which items are worth pushing on and which aren't — not every finding is worth a fight, and not every finding should be waved off either.

3. The Appraisal. If you're financing the purchase, your lender will order an appraisal — but it's worth understanding what this step is actually for. Its primary purpose is protecting the lender, by confirming the home supports the loan amount they're issuing. As a secondary effect, it also gives you another independent opinion of the home's value alongside your own research — but that's a byproduct of the process, not its purpose, and it isn't a guarantee you haven't overpaid. If the appraisal comes in at or above your contract price, this step is usually uneventful. If it comes in low, you and the seller have to work out the gap — you cover it in cash, the seller lowers the price, you split the difference, or in some cases the deal doesn't move forward. Whether your specific offer included an appraisal contingency (and what it actually obligates each side to do) is worth confirming early, not discovering in the moment.

4. Loan Underwriting. This is the stretch that tends to feel the most opaque to buyers, and it's the one I get the most calls about. Underwriting is your lender's final, detailed review of your financial picture before they commit to funding the loan. It's normal — not a red flag — for an underwriter to come back asking for a document you already provided, an explanation for a bank deposit, or an updated pay stub. Lenders aren't trying to make your life difficult; they're satisfying requirements that exist to protect everyone in the transaction, including you. One thing worth knowing before you're in the middle of it: don't open a new credit card, finance a car, take on other new debt, change jobs, or make any unusual large financial moves during this window without talking to your lender first. Even something that seems harmless or unrelated can affect your debt-to-income ratio or raise a question your underwriter has to resolve, and it can slow down or jeopardize your closing. If you're not sure whether something qualifies, ask your lender before you do it, not after. The most useful thing you can do during this stretch is respond quickly and completely every time your lender asks for something — delays here are one of the most common reasons closings get pushed back.

5. Homeowners Insurance. Somewhere in this window, you'll also need to secure homeowners insurance and have your lender confirm it before closing. This is easy to forget because it doesn't feel like part of "the real process," but a missing insurance binder can hold up closing just as easily as a financing issue. I recommend getting quotes early, not the week of closing.

6. The Final Walkthrough. Typically 24 to 48 hours before closing, you'll walk through the home one more time. This isn't a second inspection — it's confirmation that the home is in the same condition it was when you agreed to buy it, and that any repairs the seller agreed to make were actually completed. It's not the moment to renegotiate something you already knew about and accepted weeks earlier.

7. Closing Day. By the time you get here, most of the real work is already done. You'll review and sign your closing documents, bring your remaining funds (typically by cashier's check or wire, confirmed in advance with your title company — never wire funds based on a last-minute email without verifying the instructions by phone first), and once everything's recorded, you get your keys.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Bottom Line

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The stretch between going under contract and closing feels uncertain mostly because buyers don't know what's supposed to happen next. It's not actually mysterious — it's a defined sequence: earnest money, inspection, appraisal, underwriting, insurance, walkthrough, closing. Knowing what's coming, and responding quickly when your lender or agent needs something from you, is most of what it takes to get through this period smoothly.

If you're getting ready to buy in Louisville and want to know exactly what this stretch looks like before you're in the middle of it, I'm happy to walk through it with you. No pressure, no obligation. Call 502-429-3866.

And if you want the practical half of this same stretch, my companion article on how to protect your home purchase between contract and closing walks through the specific habits that keep a smooth transaction on track.

— Tim