Real answers about offers, earnest money, inspections, financing, and closing—from Grewal RE Group transactions.
Three items keep an offer ready to fire: the pre-approval letter from the lender (the agent can request it directly from the loan officer), a photo ID, and proof of funds covering the down payment and closing costs. With those on file, a clean competitive offer can be submitted on any home without delay.
The buyer got his three documents on file in early July. Days later his offer on an Elgin home went out same-day and he was under agreed terms within 24 hours of the seller's counter.
A counter is rarely just about price. Sellers also tighten timelines (option period, financing approval window, closing date). Shivraj's approach: walk the buyer through each changed term in detail by phone, weigh the total package rather than the price alone, then respond quickly and get the executed contract back to the other side within a day.
Buyer reviewed the counter with Shivraj the same evening, accepted all terms, and the contract was delivered the next afternoon.
Earnest money in these deals ran roughly 0.9 to 1 percent of the price, and option fees ran $250 to $500 for 7 to 15 day option periods. Both are delivered to the title company within about 3 days of the effective date, and the deadline is firm. The earnest money credits back to the buyer at closing; the option fee buys the unrestricted right to terminate during the option period.
In a Leander purchase, Shivraj flagged the earnest money delivery as one of only two urgent items in week one and had the buyers confirm wiring instructions by phone before sending anything.
The sequence: 1) deliver earnest money and option fee to title by the firm deadline, 2) use the option period to inspect and negotiate, 3) keep the loan file current with the lender, 4) review the title commitment (buyer has 5 days after receipt to object), 5) decide on the home warranty the seller reimburses, 6) review HOA resale certificate and dues, 7) line up homeowners insurance a few weeks before closing, 8) lender orders the appraisal, with a financing-terms exit available up to 3 days before closing if the home does not meet lender requirements, 9) final walkthrough, bring closing funds, sign with title, home is yours when the loan funds. Shivraj also flags which items are urgent versus handled by the agent.
Only two items were urgent in week one: money to title within 5 days and inspections booked before the option deadline. The buyers handled those and the rest ran on rails; the sale stayed on track with title, lender, and HOA all engaged.
Yes. Even on an as-is sale, do a full general inspection during the option period, plus a closer look at HVAC, roof, and foundation. The option period is the buyer's window to negotiate or walk away with earnest money returned, and the inspection is what makes that decision informed. As-is describes the seller's starting position, not the buyer's rights during the option period.
The buyers inspected, found real items, and despite the as-is listing ended up with a signed repair amendment before the option period closed.
Focus repair requests on things that can actually damage the house: drainage, HVAC, roof, foundation, and safety items like electrical AFCI breakers. Skip cheap cosmetic fixes that cost little and can wait until after move-in. Then send your top priorities so the agent can draft a repair amendment before the option period ends.
The buyers prioritized HVAC, exterior items, and the AFCI breakers. A repair amendment was drafted, negotiated with the sellers, and fully signed one day before the option deadline.
Once the repair amendment is executed and the option period closes, the deal is firmly under contract. Then the appraisal inspection happens, the lender's appraisal report comes back about a week later, title confirms it has everything it needs, and a closing date gets set once the appraisal lands. In closing week the buyer picks a signing time slot, and wire instructions come directly from the title company so the buyer can plan the funds movement.
Option closed April 30, the appraisal report landed on schedule, closing was booked for May 20, and the buyer signed at 1:30 PM and got his keys.
Three rules during underwriting: keep making all current housing payments on time, do not open new credit lines or make large purchases, and tell your agent immediately if the lender or servicer contacts you directly so nothing sits unanswered.
The buyer followed the rules through a months-long underwriting process; no surprise conditions appeared and the file cleared.
Seller contributions are negotiated into the offer, not asked for later. They can cover buyer closing costs, the owner's title policy, the buyer's broker compensation, home warranty reimbursement, and HOA transfer fee splits.
Both deals closed with the contributions intact; in one negotiation the seller raised the price in the counter but kept the full broker compensation and warranty credit in place.
A residential service contract is a first-year home warranty covering systems and appliances. Sellers commonly reimburse $600 to $650 for it in Austin-area contracts. Use it: it is negotiated money that otherwise evaporates, and the agent can set it up so it is active on closing day.
Buyers on a Leander purchase took the recommendation and had the warranty ordered through the seller credit before closing.
Wiring or delivery instructions come from the title company, and before sending any funds the buyer always calls a known, independently verified phone number for the title office to confirm the wire details verbatim. Never trust wiring instructions that arrive only by email, even if the email looks like it is from the title company or agent.
The buyers confirmed instructions by phone with the named title contact and delivered earnest money and option fee ahead of the deadline with no issues.
On a long escrow the rate is not locked the whole way. The approach: write a rate ceiling into the third-party financing addendum so the buyer has a contractual exit if rates blow past it, keep the loan file current with the lender for months, then refresh the approval and lock the rate at the right window before closing. The financing terms also allow an exit up to 3 days before closing if the property does not meet lender requirements.
The buyers went under contract knowing exactly how the rate would be handled across a ten-month escrow rather than gambling on a day-one lock.
It depends on the fine print. A rate buydown advertised at a low teaser rate can settle permanently much higher after a few years, and some promos only apply to certain loan types, so conventional buyers may need to ask for a price reduction or closing cost credit instead. Run every payment at a standard rate and the promo rate, and always ask for the exact tax rate on the specific lot since MUD districts can push property taxes well above the metro average.
A couple got a builder-by-builder comparison with real monthly payments, dropped two builders whose largest plans missed their size minimum, and toured the two communities where the numbers actually worked. Best value turned out to be the builder with no advertised promo at all, whose base pricing worked at a standard rate with room to negotiate.
Work backward from your build time (often around 4 months from contract signing) and target a contract 2 to 3 months earlier than the technical minimum to buffer design selections, permitting, and final walkthrough. Start site selection and pre-qualification now because the best homesites move first.
A buyer sent nine detailed questions about a community; Shivraj answered each with sourced specifics and mapped her lease-end date back to a contract target, converting a researcher into a buyer with a concrete timeline.
Central Texas expansive clay soil movement is regional, not automatically a construction defect, so ask about soil stabilization treatment and any warranty on it. On governance, Texas HOAs transition from developer-appointed to resident-elected boards at an occupancy threshold defined in the CC&Rs, so request the bylaws before signing and ask the developer about current board composition, the transition trigger, and the estimated timeline. Also verify landscaping rules with the HOA compliance manager directly rather than assuming.
Across three emails a buyer's nine questions plus follow-ups all got sourced answers, including a catch that city compliance required a cooktop installed before closing so opting out of the appliance was impossible. She moved from research mode to scheduling a call.
Ask for the exact monthly dues and what they include, the age of big shared components like the roof, and critically whether any special assessment for major work is already paid or will hit the new owner. Getting confirmation in writing changes the risk picture entirely.
A listing agent confirmed dues, coverage, a new roof, and a paid special assessment in one email, giving the buyer a clean cost picture before the showing.
A proper evaluation package includes neighborhood and school context, realistic rental comps rather than best-case numbers, and an honest overall verdict on whether it pencils, delivered as a written report you can study, followed by a walkthrough call. Investment analysis should always include the honest cash flow view, not just the upside.
A report went out on a Sunday with an offer to walk through it by phone the next day, keeping the decision in the buyer's hands with real numbers.
Use the third-party financing addendum to cap the risk: set a rate cap and an origination cap so you can exit with earnest money returned if financing exceeds those terms, plus a long buyer-approval contingency window. Plan to refresh lender approval and lock the rate shortly before closing.
On a ten-month close, the buyers' biggest exposure was rate drift; the financing addendum's rate and origination caps plus a long approval window kept them protected while planning to re-lock near closing.
Two workstreams run in parallel. For solar, get the solar contract and monthly statement early and confirm assumption or transfer terms with the seller before closing. For inspection findings, negotiate a written repair amendment with the listing side, then verify repairs are complete at the final walkthrough before funding.
The agent coordinated the solar documents and negotiated a repair amendment after inspection; repairs were confirmed done at the final walkthrough and the deal closed and funded cleanly.
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