After You Accept an Offer on Your Dallas Home

The first thing I tell sellers is congratulations. The second thing I tell them is to get ready for company. Over the next couple of weeks, a lot of people may come through your house: inspectors, maybe an engineer or two, the appraiser, and eventually the buyers again with their parents in tow.

I’ve been selling Dallas real estate since 2007, and the stretch between “accepted” and “closed” is where deals are protected or lost. Here’s what actually happens, in the order it usually happens, and what I want every seller to know before they pop the champagne.

The option period: open the doors and step out

In Texas, most buyers negotiate an option period, a short window after the contract is signed when they can inspect the house and walk away for any reason. The length is whatever you agree to. On a lot of our deals it’s about 14 days. During that window, your job is simple: make the house fully available.

That means access for the buyer’s inspectors, and later the appraiser.¹ It also means keeping the house in the same condition it was in when the buyer saw it. Don’t pull out the landscaping, don’t move the big furniture into the garage, and don’t let the yard go.

And don’t be home. It’s always best if you’re gone during these appointments. In a real estate deal, everyone is trying to figure out who everyone else is. Sometimes it’s to get a better deal, and sometimes people are just nosy. It rarely works out when sellers overlap with inspectors or buyers. Everyone’s ears are perked up, listening to every word, and the last thing you want is an offhand comment that gets misunderstood and turns into a negotiation.

The inspection report: don’t read it alone

Reading an inspection report about your own house can make you feel beaten up and defeated. It reads like a list of everything wrong with the home you’ve loved for years.

Keep it in perspective. Every Texas inspector is licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission, follows the same standards of practice and writes on the same required report form.² Reports across the industry look a lot alike, and much of what’s in them is mandated. A long report doesn’t mean a bad house.

So we sit down with our sellers and walk through it line by line. Then we look at the buyer’s repair request and how you can directly address each item.

Some sellers don’t have the time or the resources to handle repairs themselves. In that case it can be better to offer the buyer a financial incentive instead, such as a credit at closing or a price adjustment, and let them make the repairs after they move in. Our guide to seller concessions explains how those credits work.

How much to fix, and how much to offer, also depends on the deal the buyer is getting. In our experience, buyers paying full price expect more in the condition of the home than buyers who feel they got a good financial deal. Knowing which buyer you have changes how you answer.

The appraisal: one person’s opinion

If the buyer is getting a loan, the lender will order an appraisal. Many times it isn’t ordered until the option period ends, once the buyer knows they’re moving forward.

When the market was on fire, many buyers waived the appraisal and agreed to bring any extra money the lender required out of their own pocket. Now that the market has settled, that has mostly gone by the wayside. Today, if the appraisal comes in under your contract price, the buyer and seller have to negotiate how to cover the gap. Sometimes the seller lowers the price, sometimes the buyer brings more cash, and often it’s a little of both.

Here’s my opinion: appraisals have always been a bit of an oddity. An appraisal is one person’s opinion of value. If a house is selling for $400,000 and the appraisal comes in at $405,000, nobody suggests the price should go up to match. But if it comes in at $395,000, everyone on the buyer’s side is up in arms and assumes the price should come down.

A low appraisal is the start of a conversation, not an automatic price cut. How that conversation goes depends on the rest of the deal and on how much each side wants it to close.

One more thing on appraisals. Starting with appraisals submitted on or after November 2, 2026, the appraiser fills out a new, far more detailed report, with photos of every kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Here is how to get your house ready for it.

While the buyer’s loan is processing: get ready to move

Once the option period is behind you, the buyer’s lender takes over and the paperwork gets quiet for a few weeks. Use that time to get ready for your own move. Know where you’re going and how you’re getting there.

Most of the time, the closing date in the signed contract really is the closing date. Plan toward it.

Time your repairs. One place sellers trip up is starting the agreed repairs the minute the repair amendment is signed. We recommend getting them scheduled right away but done as close to closing as you can, finishing two to three days before. That way you aren’t paying for work on a deal that could still fall apart, and the repairs are fresh when the buyer looks at them. The contract requires agreed repairs to be finished before closing by licensed or qualified tradespeople, with documentation of the work and payment, and any transferable warranties, going to the buyer.¹

Expect return visits. The contract gives the buyer access to the house at reasonable times while it’s in effect.¹ They can’t renegotiate the repairs, but they can look. In the last week before closing, the buyer will often come back with parents or other trusted advisers. Their inspector may return to confirm the repairs are done. And there’s almost always a final walkthrough right before closing.

What can make a deal fall apart

The most common reason a deal falls apart after acceptance is that the buyer doesn’t get final loan approval. People lose jobs. Something serious happens in their life that changes their ability to close.

We had one this year that nobody could have seen coming. A week before closing, the buyers broke up, decided to divorce and told us they wouldn’t be moving forward. Our sellers had already prepped the house and moved out.

We didn’t just let it go. We negotiated enough money from the buyers to cover the sellers’ costs: preparing the house, moving out, putting it back on the market, and carrying it for another couple of months. It wasn’t the outcome anyone wanted, but our sellers weren’t left holding the bill.

You can’t prevent life from happening to a buyer. What you can do is have someone in your corner who notices when something’s off and knows how to protect you when it is.

Closing day: shorter than you think

This surprises first-time sellers more than anything: your closing usually takes less than half an hour. You aren’t taking out a mortgage, so there are a lot fewer documents to sign. And it doesn’t matter whether you or the buyer signs first.

The money takes a little longer. If the buyer has a loan, it usually takes about an hour after the last person signs for the lender to approve funding. If you’ve given the title company your wiring instructions, your proceeds generally arrive within three or four hours of that approval.

The keys change hands at funding. Traditionally the agents do the handoff the moment the deal funds.

Here’s the part most sellers don’t realize: even if you’re staying in the house on a leaseback, the buyer owns it and is entitled to keys at funding. From that moment on, you’re a tenant, and you’re subject to all the laws and rules that come with being one.¹ It’s still a great safety net. Just go in knowing the house is no longer yours.

Loose ends people forget

Utilities. The contract requires you to keep the utilities on while it’s in effect.¹ Two or three days before closing, schedule the disconnection for the day after closing. We’ve had sellers set the shutoff for closing day itself, with an afternoon closing, and the power went off at 8 a.m.

Insurance. Don’t call your agent to cancel your homeowner’s policy until the sale has closed and funded. If you’re leasing the house back, talk to your insurance agent before closing about whether your policy still covers you, or get a temporary renter’s policy. The contract itself tells both sides to check with their insurance agent before ownership and possession change.¹

Property taxes and your homestead. Taxes are prorated on the closing statement. If you’re buying another home in Texas, ask your title company and your agent before closing how your homestead exemption will be handled on both properties so there are no surprises on either statement.

Keys and openers. Leave every extra key and garage door opener on the kitchen counter, where the buyers will find them on day one.

Under contract doesn’t mean in the clear

You’ll hear friends say to book the movers and start planning how to spend the money the minute your offer is accepted. I disagree with half of that. We always tell our sellers:

Under contract doesn’t mean in the clear. Prepare for your next chapter, but don’t start spending the proceeds until closing day.

What sellers never see is how much follow-up happens behind the scenes. My partner Jeff Updike and I try to find a reason to talk with the buyer’s agent at least every other day. If something isn’t looking right, we want to know about it before someone has to call and tell us something’s wrong.

If you’re thinking about selling, call or text us with any questions. It’s always no obligation, and we’re happy to talk. We talk with some sellers six months to a year before they’re ready, and it’s never too early to start the conversation. You can see how we sell homes in Dallas or request an estimate of what your home is worth.

More opinion pieces like this one live on Our Take →