The buyer process, step by step

A home buyer's typical timeline

Every deal is different. The dates in your offer and Purchase and Sale Agreement are the ones that count, and we put each one on the calendar the day your offer is accepted.

1. Select your agent

Interview more than one agent. You want someone who knows the towns you are looking at and explains things in a way that makes sense to you. It starts with a short call, then a longer buyer consult by video or in person: towns, budget, timing, must-haves, and how you plan to pay.

Since August 17, 2024, MLS members must have a written buyer agreement with you before you tour homes together. So you pick your agent, and sign that agreement, before the first showing.

Forms at this step

• Massachusetts Mandatory Real Estate Licensee-Consumer Relationship Disclosure. A state form that explains the difference between a seller agent, a buyer agent, a dual agent and a facilitator. Signing it only says you received it. It is not a contract.
• Exclusive Right to Represent Buyer Agreement. Our written buyer agreement with Keller Williams Realty Boston-Metro. It names your designated agent, how long it runs, what we will do (find homes, set up showings, advise on offer terms, negotiate, coordinate inspections), and how we are paid. Our fee is not set by law and is negotiable. How buyer agent pay works now.

2. Get pre-approved

There is almost no reason to start viewing homes without a pre-approval. It tells you your real number, and sellers expect to see it with your offer. Once your lender has your documents, a pre-approval is often ready the same day or within 1 business day. We talk through cash, conventional, FHA or other loans and how much down. Cash buyers show proof of funds instead.

A pre-approval is not the full mortgage application. That comes later, at step 9.

3. Retain your attorney

In Massachusetts your attorney reviews and negotiates the Purchase and Sale Agreement and usually handles your closing. You do not usually need them working until your offer is accepted, but pick one early. Once an offer is accepted the timelines move fast. If you do not have one, we can recommend a few.

4. Begin your home search

Start whenever you are ready. How we search depends on your goals and your timeline: some buyers tour every weekend, others wait for the right listing. We set up your search on MLS PIN and start touring. How listing alerts work.

Forms at this step

• Home Inspectors Facts for Consumers. A fact sheet the state requires agents to give buyers. It covers how to choose a licensed home inspector and other tests worth considering: lead paint, water quality, radon, pests, septic and more.
• Concrete Foundation Advisory for Buyers (#306). Some Massachusetts foundations have problems tied to pyrrhotite, a mineral in certain concrete. This explains the risk and the testing options.
• Wire Fraud Advisory (#519). Criminals target real estate emails. We will never ask you to wire money by email or text. Always confirm wire instructions by phone, using a number you already have.

5. Pick a home inspector (or 2)

Do not wait until your offer is accepted. The inspection window is short, often only days, and good inspectors book up. Choose a licensed Massachusetts home inspector, and a backup, while you are still searching. We can suggest several. Think about whether the homes you like will also need radon, pest, lead, water or septic testing, so you can line those up too. The inspection law, explained.

6. Make an offer

How many other offers you will face is hard to predict. We set the strategy by the price, your budget and the location: we pull the recent sales, talk through what the seller is likely to see from other buyers, and agree on terms. We confirm your deposit amount and how you will pay it, draft the offer, send it to you to review, then send it through Dotloop for e-signatures and submit it with your pre-approval letter.

The offer: Contract to Purchase Real Estate #501

This is the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS standard offer form. It is a binding contract once the seller signs it. The key blanks:

• Price and deposits. A first deposit with the offer and an additional deposit when you sign the Purchase and Sale Agreement. The balance is due at closing.
• Offer deadline. The date and time the seller must sign and return it. After that the offer is rejected and your deposit comes back.
• Purchase and Sale date. When you and the seller must sign the full P&S.
• Closing date and place. Usually the Registry of Deeds or the attorney's office.
• Escrow agent. Who holds your deposit, usually the listing brokerage.
• Inspection contingency. Your right to inspections (home, pest, radon, lead, septic, water and more) by a date you choose. If results are not acceptable, you can end the deal by written notice received by 5:00 p.m. the next day. Your right to a home inspection under 760 CMR 74.00 cannot be waived.
• Mortgage contingency. If you cannot get a written loan commitment by the set date despite reasonable effort, you can end the deal and get your deposit back. Notice must arrive by 5:00 p.m. the day after the commitment date, or the contingency is waived. You also agree to apply for the loan by a set date.
• Buyer broker pay. If you want the seller to pay some or all of our fee, it goes here.

Time is of the essence on every date. Missing one can cost you a protection or your deposit. The Offer to Purchase in more depth.

Addenda that may go with your offer

• Condominium Documents Addendum. The seller delivers the master deed, bylaws, rules, budget and latest financials within a set number of days, and you can back out by a set date if you are not satisfied. Buying a condo.
• Sewage Disposal System Contingency Addendum. For homes on septic. The seller has the system inspected under Title 5 at their expense and gives you the report. How Title 5 works.
• Addendum for Integrated Disclosure Rule Applicable to Mortgage Loans. Your lender must give you a Closing Disclosure at least 3 business days before closing. This addendum lets the closing date move if that timing requires it.
• Seller Agreement to Compensate Cooperating Broker Addendum (#310) or Listing Broker to Buyer Broker Compensation Agreement (#311). These put any agreement on our pay in writing, whether the seller or the listing broker pays it.
• Affiliated Business Arrangement Disclosure. Tells you about any Keller Williams affiliated services. You are always free to choose your own lender, attorney and inspector.

If there are multiple offers, we prepare you before you submit: how high you are willing to go, what terms matter, and what you will not give up. If your offer is not accepted, we refresh your search and keep going.

7. Home inspection and contingencies

Inspections and other contingencies, such as reviewing condo documents, typically happen within 7 to 10 days of acceptance. Once the seller signs, we send you the fully signed offer, put every deadline on the calendar, and introduce everyone: you, the listing agent, both attorneys and your lender.

• Deposit. Usually paid through DepositLink. You get an email request, verify your identity and pay by ACH. A paper check made out to the escrow holder also works. We confirm it was received.
• Home inspection. Your inspector, already lined up at step 5. We set the time with the listing side and send you what to expect. Plan to attend. Add radon, pest, lead, water or septic tests as the home calls for them.
• Negotiating results. We go through the report with you and decide what matters. Then we take your requests to the listing agent: repairs, a price change, or a credit. Whatever is agreed goes to your attorney to write into the Purchase and Sale Agreement.
• Homeowner insurance. Start quotes now. Your lender needs proof before closing.

Disclosures you will receive

• Massachusetts Mandatory Residential Home Inspection Disclosure. Signed by buyer and seller before the first written contract. It confirms the seller cannot make the deal depend on you giving up a home inspection.
• Property Transfer Lead Paint Notification and Certification. For homes built before 1978. You sign the certification before the P&S. You have the right to a lead inspection. If a child under 6 will live there, Massachusetts law requires the home to be deleaded or brought under interim control.
• Seller's Statement of Property Condition (#700), or a signed refusal to complete one. Massachusetts does not require most sellers to fill this out, so many decline. It does not replace your inspection.

If you decide on your own, after the contract, not to rely on the inspection contingency, the form is the Post-Contract Termination of Inspection Rights Addendum (#523). We do not recommend it, and no one can make you sign it.

8. Sign the Purchase and Sale Agreement

The Purchase and Sale Agreement (P&S) is the full contract, and the attorneys lead this step. It is often signed 7 to 14 days after your offer is accepted, on the date the offer sets. The seller's attorney usually sends the first draft, and your attorney negotiates it. It covers title, the condition of the home at closing, what stays and goes, the inspection agreement, what happens if either side defaults, and the final dates.

• We check the draft against the accepted offer terms, so nothing changes that was not agreed.
• The seller often signs first. We set it up for your signature and send you the deposit request.
• You pay the additional deposit, often bringing the total to about 5% of the price.
• We send the fully signed P&S to you, both attorneys and your lender, with next steps.

The P&S is drafted fresh by attorneys for each deal, so there is no standard copy in our forms. Your attorney is the right person for questions about specific wording.

9. Submit your full mortgage application

This is different from your pre-approval. Your lender needs the signed P&S to move your loan forward, so the full application usually goes in around the P&S signing or within 1 to 2 business days after. Your offer also sets a date to apply by. We confirm it is in on time and arrange access for the appraiser.

10. Get your mortgage commitment letter

The commitment letter is your lender's written promise to make the loan. It often arrives about 3 weeks to 45 days after the full application. Your offer and P&S set a commitment date, and your mortgage contingency depends on it, so we check in with your lender ahead of that date, not on the day. If the appraisal comes in low, we talk through the options with you, your lender and your attorney.

Meanwhile, for condos we confirm the seller is getting the 6(d) certificate from the association. We also confirm the final water and, where it applies, oil or propane readings will be ready for closing. Then we send you a closing checklist: utilities, movers and what to expect.

11. Final walkthrough

Usually the night before or the morning of closing. We check that the home is in the same condition as at your inspection, or as agreed in the P&S, that agreed repairs are done, and that everything included in the sale is there.

12. Closing

Closing is typically 30 to 60 days from the day your offer is accepted.

• Closing Disclosure. Your lender sends it at least 3 business days before closing. Review it with your attorney.
• Signing. You sign the loan documents and your attorney records the deed. Bring ID and your funds (wire confirmed by phone, or a bank check). For condos, we confirm move-in rules with the association.
• Our invoice. If our fee is paid by you, our Buyer Commission Invoice goes to the closing attorney ahead of time, so it shows on the settlement statement. Nothing in our pay should surprise you at the table.

13. Move in and enjoy

We arrange the key handoff with the listing side. Then it is yours.

If a deal falls through

If a contingency lets you out, or both sides agree to end the deal, everyone signs a Release from Contract and Release of Funds from Escrow (#514) or Deposit Release Instructions. These say the contract is over and tell the escrow holder where your deposit goes. Your attorney should review it before you sign.

A note on these forms and dates

We name the real forms so you know what is coming. Most are copyrighted Massachusetts Association of REALTORS or Greater Boston Real Estate Board forms, so we send them to you through Dotloop for each deal rather than posting copies here. The timing above is typical, not a promise. Your offer and P&S set the real dates. This page is general information, not legal advice. For contract terms, ask your attorney.