Every step between a signed contract and the keys, explained.

What earnest money is under NWMLS Form 21, when it is due, where escrow holds it, when it is protected or at risk, and how to wire it without being defrauded.

Immediately after mutual acceptance: the Delivery Date on page one of Form 21 is measured in days from mutual acceptance, and 2 days is the default if the blank was left empty.

How to read the preliminary title commitment, how the Form 22T review window works, common King County exceptions, and owner's vs lender's title policies.

The commitment usually arrives within the first week after mutual acceptance; Form 22T gives you the number of days written on it (5 if the blank is empty) from receipt, or from mutual acceptance if that box is checked, to object in writing.

How the Form 35 inspection contingency works: the Inspection Period, your Form 35R response options, specialist extensions, and what a WA inspection covers.

The first days after mutual acceptance: the Inspection Period is the number of days written in Form 35 paragraph 3 (10 if the blank is empty), counted from mutual acceptance, and every option you have must be exercised by written notice before it ends.

What the Form 27 or 27CIC resale certificate and Form 22D HOA documents tell you, how the review window works, what silence means, and what the dues cover.

Your window opens when the resale certificate or HOA documents are delivered to you, not at mutual acceptance; on the standard forms it is 5 days from receipt, with silence counting as approval.

How King County's time-of-sale septic inspection works, what the maintainer checks, the Form 22S-King and 22S contingencies, red flags, and the as-built.

Early in the contract: the seller's Operation and Maintenance Report (King County) or inspection report is delivered on the schedule written in the septic addendum, and your disapproval window (5 days if the blank is empty) runs from the day you receive it.

What a sewer scope inspection is, which Seattle and Eastside homes need one, the findings that matter, and how it fits inside the Form 35 inspection window.

During the Form 35 Inspection Period, which starts the day after mutual acceptance and runs 10 days unless your agreement says otherwise.

Why your lender orders an appraisal, how it ties to Form 22A, the timeline after mutual acceptance, and your options if the value comes in below the price.

Ordered by the lender shortly after mutual acceptance and usually back within two to three weeks; the Form 22A ¶5 notice clock starts the day you receive a copy.

Your loan under Form 22A: application deadline, rate lock, underwriting conditions, the Closing Disclosure three-day rule, and how the contingency protects you.

Starts the day after mutual acceptance with the Form 22A ¶1(a) application deadline and ends when the lender funds the loan on the Closing Date, typically 21 to 45 days later.

What escrow does in Washington, the final walkthrough, your signing, wiring cash to close, funding, recording with King County, and when you get the keys.

The final 10 to 14 days before the Closing Date written in Form 21 Specific Term 11, ending when the deed records with the county and the seller's proceeds are available.

How to start electric, gas, water, sewer, garbage and internet on your closing date, who serves each Eastside and Seattle city, and a moving-week timeline.

The two weeks before the Closing Date, with service start dates set to the Closing Date itself; most providers want one to two weeks of notice.

How the buyer's earnest money works on an NWMLS sale: who holds it, the Form 89 receipt, what happens when it is late, and when a seller keeps it or returns it.

The first few days after mutual acceptance, when Form 21 requires the buyer to deliver the deposit, and again at any point a contingency ends the sale.

What the preliminary title commitment shows, the liens and payoffs a Washington seller must clear, how Form 22T objections work, and what escrow needs from you.

From the day the preliminary commitment is issued, usually within a week of mutual acceptance, through the last business day before recording when escrow receives final payoff figures.

The buyer's inspection under NWMLS Form 35 from the seller's side: the windows, what a 35R can ask, your reply options, access and utilities, repair receipts.

The inspection period written on Form 35 begins at mutual acceptance and is measured in days; the seller's response and the buyer's reply periods follow it, each with its own number of days on the form.

Selling a Washington condo or HOA home: ordering the resale certificate, fees and turnaround, what it contains, the buyer's review window, and move-out rules.

Order the certificate the day of mutual acceptance if you have not already; the buyer's review period begins only when the complete package is delivered, and a slow association is the most common reason a condo closing slips.

Selling a King or Snohomish County home on septic: the licensed maintainer inspection, pumping, records you provide, failed results, and pulling as-builts.

From mutual acceptance until the inspection report is filed with the health department and delivered to the buyer, with the Form 22S deadlines written on your contract governing the dates.

Why buyers scope the side sewer on older Seattle and Eastside homes, who owns the line, common findings, how requests arrive on Form 35R, and your options.

During the buyer's inspection period under Form 35; any repair request arrives on Form 35R and starts the seller's response period written on the addendum.

Access, presentation, what your agent may share with the appraiser, and your options under NWMLS Form 22A if the buyer's appraisal comes in below the price.

Typically in the second or third week after mutual acceptance, once the buyer's loan application is in; the low-appraisal provisions of Form 22A apply if the report comes in under the price, with the response periods written on the addendum.

What a Washington seller hears about the buyer's loan under Form 22A: application, approval, clear to close, lender status, failed loans, and cash under 22EF.

From the loan application deadline written on Form 22A, counted in days after mutual acceptance, through the lender's clear to close a few days before recording.

What a Washington seller signs at escrow, excise tax and payoffs, how proceeds are wired after recording, the wire-fraud rule, and when keys change hands.

The last five to seven days before the closing date written on Form 21: seller signing early in that week, buyer signing and lender funding after, recording on the closing date, proceeds the same day or the next business day.

When to stop or transfer each utility, final bills under Form 22K, the condition Form 21 requires at possession, what stays, and what to leave for the buyer.

The last two weeks before closing through the day after recording, when possession transfers under Form 21 and the utility accounts change hands.