Under Contract

With few exceptions, the first week or two after you contract on the property are among the busiest and most important in the home buying process. You will be conducting inspections and other evaluations of the property and getting the lender geared up to finalize the loan on the property. You will also be reviewing documents from the title insurance company and coordinating with the lender to get the property appraisal completed. We'll discuss this process under the following headings:

• Evaluating the Property -- inspections, neighborhood issues...

• Financing Issues -- locking your loan, appraisals...

• Title Issues -- reviewing title commitment, association rules...

If the closing has been scheduled less than 30 days out, you will also have to be preparing to move and close, but we'll deal with those issues in the next section (see Preparing to Close).