The milestones you will hear about
A financed purchase moves through a predictable sequence. The buyer submits a full loan application to the lender named on Form 22A. The lender orders the appraisal and sends the file to underwriting. Underwriting issues a conditional approval, listing the documents it still needs. Once those conditions are cleared and the appraisal and title are in, the lender issues a clear to close, prepares the closing documents, and sends them to escrow. Funding follows the buyer's signing, and the deed records after funds are confirmed.
You will not see the buyer's file, and you should not expect to. What you can expect, through your agent and Jennifer, RexMont's transaction administrator, are status updates at each stage: application made, appraisal ordered and received, conditional approval issued, clear to close received. Those four confirmations tell you the loan is on schedule.
The buyer's agent and lender are the sources. Jennifer asks at set intervals and whenever a date on the contract is approaching, so you are not left guessing.
What the listing side may ask the lender
Form 22A includes the buyer's authorization for the lender to disclose the status of the loan to the seller and the listing broker. That is a status authorization, not access to the file. Your agent may ask whether the application is complete, whether the appraisal has been ordered and received, whether the loan has been approved and with what outstanding conditions, and whether a clear to close has been issued. The lender may not share the buyer's credit, income, or assets, and your agent will not ask.
Most lenders answer status questions readily, because a listing side that trusts the timeline is easier to close with. If a lender will not confirm status at all, your agent notes it, and the request goes through the buyer's agent instead.
Form 22A also sets an application deadline, a number of days after mutual acceptance written on the form, by which the buyer must make a complete application. If the buyer misses it and the loan later fails for that reason, the addendum affects who receives the earnest money, which is why Jennifer confirms the application date in writing.
The dates that matter to you
Four dates on the financing side deserve your attention. The application deadline on Form 22A. The appraisal, covered in its own guide, which is the usual cause of delay. The point at which Form 22A lets you ask the buyer to waive the financing contingency. And the closing date on Form 21.
The waiver provision is the seller's lever. Form 22A allows the seller, after a number of days written on the addendum, to give the buyer notice asking whether the buyer will waive the financing contingency. The buyer then has a short period, also written on the form, to waive. If the buyer does not waive within that period, the seller may terminate the agreement. It is a strong step and your agent will discuss whether it is wise for your situation before recommending it; it is most useful when a loan appears stalled and you have reason to believe another buyer is available.
Closing itself is the date on which documents are recorded and proceeds are available. If the buyer's loan is not ready, closing cannot happen on that day, and any extension requires a written amendment both parties sign.
If the buyer's financing fails
A buyer who still holds the financing contingency and cannot obtain the loan after a good-faith effort may terminate by giving notice under Form 22A, and the earnest money is returned to the buyer. That is what the contingency is for. Form 22A carves out exceptions: if the buyer failed to make a timely application, or the loan fails for reasons the addendum assigns to the buyer, the earnest money may go to the seller instead. Which applies depends on the facts and the exact language of your addendum, and your agent will explain your position rather than guess at it.
A buyer who waived the financing contingency, whether at offer or later in response to your notice, has agreed to close regardless of the loan. If the loan fails anyway and the buyer does not close, that is a default under Form 21, and your remedy is the one checked in the buyer's default paragraph, typically the earnest money as liquidated damages.
Either way, the home goes back on the market quickly, and the listing history shows a pending sale that fell through. Your agent prepares for that on the day financing looks uncertain, not on the day it fails.
Cash buyers and Form 22EF
A cash purchase has no lender, so the questions are simpler: does the buyer have the money, and is it available on the closing date? Form 22EF, the Evidence of Funds Addendum, requires the buyer to provide evidence of sufficient funds to close within a number of days after mutual acceptance written on the form. The evidence is typically a bank or brokerage statement or a letter from the institution, and the addendum includes the buyer's representation about whether the funds depend on the sale of another property or on a loan.
If the buyer does not provide the evidence within the period, Form 22EF gives the seller the right to terminate. Jennifer calendars the deadline and asks the buyer's agent for the document as it approaches.
Cash closings can move faster because there is no underwriting or appraisal, but title, the seller's payoffs, and escrow's work still take their normal course. The escrow-signing guide covers what you do at the end regardless of how the buyer pays.
Your checklist
- 1Ask your agent for the application deadline written on Form 22A and confirm the buyer met it.
- 2Expect four status confirmations: application complete, appraisal received, conditional approval, clear to close.
- 3Leave lender contact to your agent, who may ask about loan status only, under the Form 22A authorization.
- 4If the loan seems stalled, discuss the Form 22A waiver notice with your agent before acting.
- 5For a cash buyer, confirm the Form 22EF evidence of funds arrived by the deadline on the form.
- 6Keep your own closing preparations on schedule so the seller side is never the reason for a delay.
What RexMont tracks for you
- The Form 22A application deadline and written confirmation that the buyer applied.
- Lender status at each stage, requested through the buyer's agent or directly under the Form 22A status authorization.
- The appraisal timeline and the lender's clear to close against the Form 21 closing date.
- The date the Form 22A waiver-request provision becomes available, so your agent can advise whether to use it.
- For cash purchases, the Form 22EF evidence-of-funds deadline and the document itself.
Jennifer Johansen, RexMont’s transaction administrator, coordinates every date and document from mutual acceptance to keys. Questions on price, terms, or strategy go to your RexMont agent.
Sources
This guide explains the process and the standard NWMLS forms in general terms. It is not legal, tax, or lending advice, and your contract controls. Talk to your RexMont agent, escrow officer, lender, or attorney about your specific situation.
