From contract to keys.
A ratified contract is a list of promises with dates. I put every date on one calendar, with reminders, and nothing is missed because a deadline fell on a Saturday. Here is what happens between ratification and settlement in Maryland and DC, for buyers and sellers, and what I do at each step.
Most files get handed off. I run every date myself.
After ratification the work changes shape: a deposit, notices, a commitment letter. In Maryland I work under the Maryland REALTORS® Residential Contract of Sale (the MAR form); in the District, the GCAAR contract. Both are promises with dates attached.
No transaction coordinator picks up the file and no assistant sends the reminders. The person who negotiated the contract is the person who knows what each date was for.
The clock starts the day after.
Every deadline is measured from one date. Get it wrong and every date after it is wrong too.
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01Day 0 is ratification
The Date of Contract Acceptance. If that line is blank, I use the last signature date and confirm it with the other agent in writing before anything is calendared.
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02Days are calendar days
The MAR contract defines days as consecutive calendar days, including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and the count begins the day after the act or notice that starts it. GCAAR also counts calendar days from the day after delivery.
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03Weekends do not move the date. The work moves.
The contract does not push a Sunday deadline to Monday. Offices are closed, so I treat the last business day before the deadline as the real one.
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04Every deadline gets a day of the week
I compute the weekday for every date and flag weekends and federal holidays in the event title, so nobody does the math at 10 pm.
A worked example. A contract ratifies on Thursday, October 1. Day 1 is Friday, October 2. A ten-day inspection contingency ends on Day 10, Sunday, October 11, and the Monday after is a federal holiday. On my calendar that deadline reads "work due Friday, October 9."
"Time is of the essence" in plain English: the dates are not suggestions. A day late is late, and the other side may have remedies the contract spells out. The contract and the title attorney control. Nothing here is legal advice; on an ambiguous date, I ask the title attorney before anyone acts.
Every promise with a date on it.
Day-count deadlines go on the calendar at ratification. Event-triggered deadlines are noted then and calendared the moment the trigger happens.
| Deadline | Type | What has to happen |
|---|---|---|
| Earnest money deposit | Day-count | The stated amount, by the stated method, to the escrow holder the contract names, within the stated days. I confirm receipt in writing. |
| Financing application | Day-count | A complete loan application within the stated days. I confirm with the lender that the file is open. |
| Inspection contingency | Day-count | The elected inspections done and the buyer's written notice delivered inside the window. The response rounds have their own short counts. |
| Financing commitment | Day-count | The lender's written commitment delivered by the stated date. If not, the contract spells out the path, typically a way for the seller to declare it null and void, or an extension. |
| Appraisal | Either | A day-count from ratification on some forms. Otherwise the notice window runs from receipt of the report and is calendared the day a low appraisal lands. |
| Water yield and septic (OSDS) | Day-count | On well and septic properties, the addendum sets a window for water quality, yield and the septic inspection. County health turnaround matters, so these are booked in week one. |
| Closing day | Fixed date | Settlement on or before the contract date, at the title company it names. Everything above exists to make this date hold. |
| Condo or HOA resale documents | Event-triggered | The seller orders the package. Delivery to the buyer starts a cancellation window set by law, calendared the day the buyer signs for the documents. |
Two Maryland windows are worth knowing. Under the Maryland Condominium Act, a resale condo buyer may cancel in writing within seven days after receiving the complete resale package; the right ends at closing (Real Property §11-135). Under the Maryland Homeowners Association Act, a buyer who did not get the HOA disclosures at least five days before signing may cancel within five calendar days after receiving them (Real Property §11B-106). DC has its own condo resale rules. The statute, the contract and the title attorney control.
Wire fraud targets real estate, and it targets this exact window. Criminals spoof a title company's email and send "updated" wiring instructions a day or two before money moves. The rule for the deposit and for closing funds: before you send anything, call the title company at a number you already have, never one from the email, and verbally confirm the account. Initiate wires early in the day so a problem can be caught while banks are open. Title companies do not change wiring instructions by email. If an email says otherwise, stop and call.
One calendar. Nothing left to memory.
Part of the Seller Toolkit, and buyers get it too. Not software: a method, applied the same way on every file.
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01
Pin Day 0
Date of Contract Acceptance, confirmed with the other side. If blank, the last signature date, confirmed in writing.
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02
Count every day-count
Each contingency and the closing date gets a calendar date and a weekday. Weekend and holiday dates are flagged with the business day the work is actually due.
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03
One all-day event per deadline
Plus closing day. Every event for the transaction is one color, so a glance at the month shows the whole file.
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04
Reminders
A 24-hour reminder on every deadline. Closing day gets a 48-hour reminder too, because the wire, the walkthrough and the Closing Disclosure stack up in the last two days.
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05
The description carries the file
Every event names the property, the price, both parties, and the lender, title and agent contacts with phone numbers. An event that only says "financing commitment" is a reminder to look something up. One that names the address, the lender's cell and the exact document due is a reminder to act, and anyone can open it at 10 pm and know who to call.
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06
Review, then invite
I check every date against the contract and addenda, then invite the client, the lender and the title contact. Nobody gets an invite before that review. A wrong date shared is worse than no date.
What happens, in order.
In my experience a financed purchase in Maryland or DC tends to run thirty to forty-five days, in roughly this order. Cash skips some of it.
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Days 1 to 3
Deposit, application, inspections booked
The deposit goes to the escrow holder and I confirm receipt. The buyer completes the loan application. I book every elected inspection early, leaving room for a follow-up specialist before the notice is due.
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Inside the inspection window
Inspect, then put it in writing
The buyer decides what matters, and a written notice goes to the seller before the deadline: a repair request, a credit request, or acceptance. The seller responds inside the next short window, and the rounds continue until there is agreement or one side walks under the contingency. More on Home Inspections, Explained.
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Weeks 1 to 3
Appraisal, rate lock, title work
The lender orders the appraisal. The buyer and lender decide when to lock the rate; a lock expires, so it should cover the closing date with room. The title company searches the record for liens and gaps in the chain, and orders payoff letters from every lienholder and the location drawing if the contract or lender calls for one. A condo or HOA seller orders the resale package now.
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By the commitment date
The commitment letter
The lender approves the loan subject to listed conditions. I read them. "Subject to verification of funds" is an open item, not a finished loan.
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The final week
Closing Disclosure, walkthrough, wire
For a financed buyer, federal rules require the Closing Disclosure to be received at least three business days before consummation; certain changes after that, such as an APR change beyond tolerance or a change in loan product, restart the three days. The seller reviews the settlement statement. The buyer wires funds after a verification call. The walkthrough happens as close to settlement as practical.
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Settlement day
Sign, fund, record, keys
Both sides sign, the lender funds, the deed and deed of trust go to record, and keys change hands when the title company says they do: in my experience often at the table in Maryland once funding is confirmed, and sometimes after recording in DC.
Inspection, financing, title. Each one has an owner.
Three things run in parallel. I manage all three, but each has a professional whose word controls.
The property
- The repair requestSpecific items, specific remedies, in writing, before the deadline. A credit is often cleaner than a repair, because the buyer picks the contractor.
- The seller's responseAccept, counter or decline inside the response window. Silence has a meaning under the form, so it is never the plan.
The money
- What the lender needsPay stubs, two years of returns or W-2s, bank statements, ID, the contract, and fast answers to conditions.
- Keep the file stillNo new credit, no car loan, no job change, no large unexplained deposits or transfers between application and funding. Lenders re-verify before they fund.
The paper
- The settlement statementThe ALTA statement for everyone; the Closing Disclosure for the financed buyer. Taxes, dues and assessments prorated to the settlement date. I check it against the contract before my client sees it.
- Who attends, and howAt the table, pre-signed, remote, or by a power of attorney the lender and title company approve in advance. That last one matters for PCS moves; see PCS to Fort Meade and VA Buyers.
The walkthrough, and the move.
The contract gives the buyer the right to walk through shortly before settlement. It is not a second inspection. It is a check that the house is the one you contracted for.
What we check together
- Agreed repairs done as written, with paid invoices in hand.
- Systems on. Water, electric and gas running; HVAC cycled; every faucet and toilet run.
- Appliances conveying are present and working.
- No new damage after the movers left.
- Broom clean, as the contract requires.
- Keys and codes. All keys, garage remotes, mailbox keys, alarm and smart-lock codes, manuals.
Before settlement day
- Utilities transfer on settlement day. The seller keeps service on through the walkthrough.
- Insurance binder. The lender needs proof of homeowner's insurance before closing.
- Home warranty, if the contract includes one, ordered before settlement.
- Mail forwarding filed with USPS to start on settlement day.
- Closing funds. The exact figure comes from the title company on the final statement.
- Movers booked for the day after keys. Settlement can slip by hours.
Under contract is not sold.
A seller's job under contract is to make every promise easy for the buyer to keep.
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01The Stop Rule
Marketing stops at contract. Showings end, the ads come down, and the listing moves to Under Contract in Bright MLS. The weekly update continues: where the buyer's loan stands and what is due next.
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02What conveys
Fixtures stay, plus whatever the contract lists as conveying. Personal property goes unless the contract says otherwise. Unsure about the second refrigerator? Ask before the walkthrough, not during it.
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03What to leave
Keys, remotes, garage openers, mailbox keys, codes, manuals and warranties, in one place on the counter. Paid invoices for any agreed repairs.
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04The pre-settlement checklist
Resale package ordered if the property is in a condo or HOA. Payoff information to the title company. Utilities set to transfer on settlement day, not before. Forwarding address. Broom clean.
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05The Seller Net Sheet, updated
The net sheet from before we listed was an estimate. At settlement I update it with the actual figures from the settlement statement, so you see where every dollar went. Details on What It Costs to Sell in Maryland and DC.
Problems have usual paths.
Most transactions have at least one. None has a certain outcome, but each has a path that starts the same way: early, in writing, with the professional whose word controls.
It comes in low
I read the report the day it lands, comps included. The usual paths: the buyer covers some or all of the gap, the seller adjusts, both move, or the buyer exits under the contingency if the contract has one. A reconsideration of value is sometimes possible.
A surprise in the report
A failed sewer scope, an active roof leak, a foundation note. I separate safety and structure from cosmetics, price the fix with a contractor's estimate, and put a specific request in writing before the deadline.
The loan runs late
I talk to the lender weekly, so a delay rarely surprises me. The paths: deliver the missing condition the same day, request a written extension before the commitment date passes, or exit under the contingency while it still protects the buyer.
A defect in the record
An old lien never released, an estate without the right paperwork, a boundary question on the location drawing. The title attorney owns the cure. My job is to get the seller's documents to them fast and tell both sides early if the closing date is at risk.
A buyer goes quiet
Silence near a deadline is a signal. I call the buyer's agent, then the lender, and put the open item in writing with its due date. If a deadline passes with no response, the contract says what the seller may do, and we follow it.
What clients ask once we are under contract.
How long does it take from contract to closing?
The contract sets the date. In my experience a financed purchase in Maryland or DC tends to settle thirty to forty-five days after ratification; cash can be faster. A slow resale package, a late appraisal or a title cure can push the date, handled by a written extension signed by both sides.
What happens if a deadline is missed?
It depends on the deadline and the form. Under the contracts I work with, an inspection deadline that passes without written notice generally means the contingency goes away, and a missed commitment date typically gives the seller choices the contract spells out. I read the form and ask the title attorney before anyone acts.
Can I close remotely?
Often, yes. Sellers frequently pre-sign a day or two early. Either side can sign with a mobile notary, through a remote closing the title company arranges, or by a power of attorney the lender and title company approve in advance. Those approvals take time, so I raise it the week we ratify.
When do I get my deposit back?
If you close, the deposit is credited toward your funds at settlement. If the contract ends under a contingency you properly exercised, it is returned under the contract's release terms, usually a release signed by both parties before the escrow holder can disburse. If the parties disagree, the escrow holder follows the rules that govern trust money; the contract and the attorney control.
Who do I wire money to?
Only to the title company handling settlement, only after you have verbally confirmed the instructions at a number you already had, and only once. Never to me, never to the seller, never to an account that changed by email.
Can I move in before settlement?
Not without a written pre-settlement occupancy agreement, and I generally advise against it on both sides. Insurance, liability and a slipped closing all get complicated when someone is living in a house they do not yet own. If it is unavoidable, the attorney drafts the agreement and both parties sign first.
Under contract soon? Let's build the calendar.
Whether you are buying or selling, a 15-minute call is enough to walk through the dates that will matter on your file.
Equal Housing Opportunity. Michael Wade, REALTOR®, Samson Properties, licensed in Maryland and Washington, DC. 443-812-9980. This page describes a process and is not legal, lending, title or tax advice. Deadlines, cancellation rights and remedies are set by the executed contract, its addenda and applicable law; the contract and the title attorney control. Statutory references are to the Maryland Code, Real Property Article, and may change. Confirm specifics with your lender, title company or attorney.