What Happens After You Accept an Offer on Your House? The Seller's Contract-to-Close Timeline (Florida)

The offer is signed. Congratulations — and now the real work of the transaction begins. The stretch between "we have a deal" and "here are the keys" is where sales actually succeed or fall apart, and as the seller you have specific responsibilities and deadlines from day one.

Most Florida sellers have never been walked through what happens next. This is that walkthrough — what each phase is, what's expected of you, and where the real risks hide.

The big picture: 30 to 45 days, governed by deadlines

A typical financed Florida sale closes in 30 to 45 days from the signed contract. Cash sales can move faster — sometimes as little as 10 to 14 days when title is clean, though two to three weeks is common once the title search and any payoffs are accounted for. What drives the schedule isn't a calendar; it's a series of contract deadlines that started ticking the moment both parties signed. Miss them, or let the buyer's deadlines lapse in their favor, and the deal can shift or collapse.

Here's the sequence.

Step 1: Escrow opens and the deposit lands

Right after signing, the buyer delivers their earnest money deposit to the escrow agent — almost always the title company in a Florida transaction — within the deadline stated in the contract (often 3 calendar days after the effective date). This deposit is the buyer's skin in the game.

Your job: confirm the deposit is actually received on time. A buyer who's slow or vague about delivering earnest money is sometimes signaling a shaky deal. A delivered deposit is the first good sign your buyer is serious. (For how deposits work and when they're at risk, see earnest money in Florida.)

Step 2: The inspection period — the most fragile stretch

This is the phase that makes or breaks the most deals, so understand it clearly.

During the inspection period — commonly 7 to 15 days — the buyer hires inspectors to examine the home. Then they choose one of three paths:

• Accept and move forward as-is, or
• Request repairs or a credit, opening a negotiation, or
• Cancel.

The critical fact for Florida sellers: most homes here sell on the FAR-BAR "As-Is" Residential Contract. Under that contract, the buyer can cancel during the inspection period for any reason — or no reason — and get their full deposit back. It functions as a free look. That's why these first couple of weeks are the riskiest part of the whole transaction.

Your job: keep the home accessible for inspectors, and when a repair or credit request comes in, respond promptly and strategically. You're not obligated to agree to everything — this is a negotiation. But stonewalling a reasonable buyer over small items is how sellers lose otherwise-solid deals and end up back on the market (where future buyers will wonder what went wrong).

A useful move before you ever list: a pre-listing inspection so you already know what the buyer's inspector will find, with no surprises.

Step 3: Appraisal and financing — the lender's checkpoints

If your buyer is getting a mortgage (most are), two things happen in parallel during the financing period:

The appraisal. The buyer's lender orders an independent appraisal to confirm the home is worth at least the contract price. The lender will only lend against the appraised value.

• If it appraises at or above the price, you're fine.
• If it comes in low, you've got a negotiation: the buyer asks you to lower the price, or agrees to bring extra cash to bridge the gap, or — only if the contract includes a separate appraisal contingency (the standard Florida "As-Is" contract has none built in) or if the low value also derails their loan approval — may be able to cancel.

The best defense against a low appraisal is having priced correctly and being able to point to strong, recent comparable sales. (More on that in what your home is really worth.)

Underwriting. The lender verifies the buyer's income, assets, credit, and the property itself. This is often where hidden delays live — a buyer whose finances change, or a loan that needs extra documentation, can push the closing date.

Your job: keep the home available for the appraiser, and stay patient through underwriting. Your agent should be in regular contact with the buyer's lender to catch problems early rather than the week of closing.

Step 4: Title work, payoffs, and the documents

While inspection and financing play out, the title company is working behind the scenes to make sure the buyer receives clean, insurable title:

• Running a title search to surface any liens, judgments, or ownership issues
• Ordering your mortgage payoff (and any second-lien or HELOC payoffs)
• Requesting the HOA estoppel if your community has an association
• Resolving anything that clouds title before closing

Your job: respond fast to document requests. The most common self-inflicted delay is a seller who's slow to return paperwork. If there's an old lien, a name change, a divorce, or an estate involved, flag it early — these take time to clear.

Step 5: The final walkthrough and closing day

In the days right before closing, the buyer does a final walkthrough to confirm the home is in the same condition it was when they went under contract and that any agreed repairs were completed.

Your job between contract and closing matters here: keep the home in the condition the buyer agreed to buy. Don't remove fixtures that conveyed, don't let maintenance lapse, and don't, for example, move out and ding up the walls. A failed walkthrough can delay closing.

Then, at closing, you sign the deed and closing documents. Your mortgage is paid off directly from the proceeds, your selling costs are deducted, and your net proceeds are wired to you. The keys transfer, and the home is the buyer's. (For an itemized look at your final number, see what it costs to sell in Florida or run the seller net sheet.)

The deadlines that decide everything

If you take one thing from this, take this: the contract runs on deadlines, and they don't move themselves. The inspection period, the financing period, the closing date — each is a real date with real consequences. As the seller, the most valuable thing you can do is:

1. Hit your own deadlines (document returns, repair responses).
2. Watch the buyer's deadlines — once they pass without the buyer exercising a contingency, your deal gets steadily more secure.
3. Don't change the home's condition between contract and closing.
4. Stay reachable. Deals die in the gaps where someone went quiet.

Your agent should be running this for you

This is the part of the transaction where a good listing agent earns their keep — managing the calendar, fielding the inspection negotiation, staying on top of the buyer's lender, coordinating with title, and steering you away from the small mistakes that blow up deals. You shouldn't be tracking these deadlines alone.

If you're preparing to sell in Orange, Seminole, or Brevard County and want someone who'll quarterback the entire contract-to-close process so nothing slips, let's talk. Start with knowing your number:

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Ryan Solberg | MaxLife Realty | Orlando, FL