When all parties have a copy of the contract that is signed by all parties, the contract becomes effective and certain tasks need to be completed in a timely manor in order to ensure compliance with the terms of the contract.
Pay careful attention to all dates and deadlines to avoid potentially serious issues. Mark them on your electronic calendar and create notifications to let you know ahead of these events occurring.
All Communications should be in writing.

These things should be completed before expiration of the Option Period.

⇒Option Period Start
Your Agent delivers a copy of the signed contract to the title company along with the earnest money check and gets a receipt for the check and a copy of the contract.
Your Earnest Money Check must be deposited with the Title Company or Escrow Agent within Three Business Days after the effective date in Paragraph 24.
Your Option Fee Check, usually $100 or 0.1% of the sales price, must be delivered to the Seller or Seller’s Agent within Three Calendar Days, including holidays after the effective date in Paragraph 24. Failure to comply with the deadline would mean that you don’t have an option period and will not have the unrestricted right to terminate the contract and get your earnest money refunded. Never, ever, allow your agent to mail the option fee check or to leave it with the title company and make sure that he gets a receipt from the person that receipted it.
Contact your Lender and get Loan Approval Initiated for the property that you are wanting to purchase.
Contact your Home Owner’s Insurance Agent and get a quote for the property that you are purchasing.
Get your Home Owners Insurance Agent to get a CLUE report for the property to check to see if there were any insurance claim filed for covered damage to the property.
Get your Home Owner’s Insurance Agent to determine if the property is in a flood plain.
Check for a Windstorm Insurance Certificate if you new home lies in one of the 14 coastal counties that require windstorm insurance to cover wind damage.
Your Real Estate Agent should have Option Fee Check and the Earnest Money Check in-hand when he submits the offer and he, not you, should should deliver the checks to the appropriate parties and get receipts for each check. Personal checks are usually acceptable as well as electronic funds and wire transfer. Get approval from the title company if there is any question as to what payment methods are acceptable. Large earnest money checks may require a cashier’s check. Get approval from the seller’s agent, in writing (email), as to the form of payment that is acceptable to the seller.
The Option Period should be between 7 and 10 days or enough time for you to get your inspections completed and evaluate the need and cost of repairs. The option period expires at 5pm on the day that it ends. It ends on the number of days specified in paragraph 23 after the effective date as specified in paragraph 24.
Obtain and review the Seller’s Disclosure of Property Condition. (This should actually be done prior to making an offer.)
Get your Inspector, which you should have selected before you made the offer, to schedule the inspection ASAP. Make sure that you have specialists in each category perform an independent inspection on the roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, WDI, and foundation. This is your best insurance against buying a house with major problems. Don’t go cheap on this.
Evaluate the inspection report and discuss with your agent. Negotiate seller repairs or seller contribution to closing costs to compensate for repairs or take this time to consider termination of the offer, before your option period expires, if you cannot agree on terms for repairs. If the seller agrees to contribute money for repairs, the amount must be agreed to by the lender. Get any issues resolved during the option period, otherwise you will not have the option to terminate and get your earnest money refunded.
All of these things should be completed within the first 3-5 days of the Option Period. If you have a 10 day Option Period, this gives you time to negotiate issues affecting your desire to continue with the purchase or terminate the contract and get your earnest money refunded.
If there are new terms for repair, painting, cleaning of yard or house, seller contribution, sales price, that come up during the option period that you want the seller to agree to, have your agent fill out an amendment to the contract with the new terms and get the seller to sign it. If the seller refuses to sign, and your can’t negotiate issues, you still have time to terminate the contract and get your earnest money refunded.
⇒Option Period Ends (along with your unrestricted right to terminate the contract and get your earnest money refunded)

The Property Appraisal will be ordered, by the lender, after the option period has ended and any repair issues have been negotiated.
If you have a survey, send a copy to the title company and lender (both must approve it). Check it over, with your agent, to see if there are any additions to the property like swimming pools or buildings that are present but not shown on the survey. Make note of the location of the easement boundaries and note anything that is planted or constructed within the boundary. If there are additions to the property, make sure that you get the plans and the HOA Architectural Review Committee’s approval forms that the seller, hopefully, got before the structures were built. If the seller does not have the approvals, provide an amendment to the contract to add a provision where the seller agrees to obtain the approval prior to the closing date.

If the seller doesn’t provide a survey, get the title company to order one, which the buyer will usually pay for unless paragraph 6C specifies something different.

If the property is within a flood plain, you may want to get a specific elevation determination for the property added to the survey to help you with your flood insurance costs.

The lender will notify you and the title company when your loan is approved. The loan approval may be contingent on the appraisal, lender required repairs being made and approved by the lender, or clarification of any issues with the survey, or requiring a new survey.

If Loan Approval is not received within the time period as specified in Paragraph B 1 of the Third Party Finance Addendum, the buyer has the option to terminate the contract and get the earnest money refunded (minus charges accrued for title, lender expenses). Make note of the date when this option will expire on your calendar.

Obtain and review the HOA Documents to make sure that there is nothing that you object to in the bylaws and deed restrictions. If you have a specific use for the property that the HOA may not allow, like parking your motorhome in the driveway, or placing a flagpole or statue in the front yard, etc. You should have placed these issues in paragraph 6D under Objections prior to submitting the purchase offer. A Certificate of Compliance from the HOA is sometimes required to be completed prior to the sale of the house.

Review the Title Commitment, especially Appendix C “Clear to Close” (Some agents think that Clear to Close means everything is OK to close but it actually means that there are issues that need to be cleared up in order to issue a Title Insurance Policy.)  Items that are not cleared up may become a part of the permanent exceptions in Appendix B and will not be covered by the Title Insurance Policy or they may prevent the title company from issuing a title insurance policy. It is important that you understand what the title insurance policy is and what it covers and does not cover. Check out the Texas Department of Insurance Title Policy Website for more information. You should also ask your escrow agent, at the title company to explain any thing that you do not understand.

Review the Closing Documents with your real estate agent and get any questions or issues resolved.

Once you, your lender, and your title company are satisfied with everything and the closing documents are signed get a Cashier’s Check for the amount that you need to bring to closing. Bring your checkbook to closing too. There could be some minor issue that you will need to provide extra funds for at closing.

The important dates that should be in your calendar are:

• Date of purchase offer
• Effective Date, from paragraph 24
• Deadline for giving the Option Fee Check to the seller or seller’s agent (effective date plus 3 calendar days) (there is no option period if you miss this deadline)
• Deadline for giving the Earnest Money Check to title company or escrow agent (3 business days)
• Option Period Expiration Date (5 pm on the final day) (Effective Date from Paragraph 24 Plus the number of days specified in Paragraph 23)
• Deadline for Loan Approval (typically the effective date form Paragraph 24 plus 21 days)
• Deadline for having Closing Documents signed and returned to the lender. (3 days prior to closing, get this information from your lender)
• Date for Final Walkthrough and Acceptance (schedule this as close to closing as possible)
• Closing Date