The process
You should never wonder what happens next.
Three weeks from contract to keys is realistic on a clean file. Here is every step, what you do, what I do, and where things actually go wrong.
- Day 015 minutes
We talk
You
Tell me what you earn, what you've saved, and where you want to live.
Me
I tell you a realistic price range and whether anything needs fixing first.
No credit pull, no documents. If the answer is 'not yet', you hear it here rather than after you've fallen in love with a house.
- Day 1–21–2 days
Pre-approval
You
Send pay stubs, W-2s, bank statements, and ID. One folder, one upload.
Me
Verify income and assets, run credit once, and issue a letter your agent can attach to offers.
A verified pre-approval — not a pre-qualification — is what makes a Frisco offer get read. Sellers can tell the difference.
- Shoppinghowever long it takes
You look
You
Tour houses. Send me any address and I'll price it properly.
Me
Return the real payment for that specific property — its tax rate, its MUD or PID, its HOA.
This is where the corridor catches people out. Two houses at the same price can differ by $400/month once the district taxes land.
- Contractsame day
Offer accepted
You
Send me the executed contract. Deposit your earnest money.
Me
Lock your rate, order the appraisal, and send disclosures within hours.
Rate lock timing is a real decision and I'll walk you through it rather than defaulting.
- Week 1–210–14 days
Processing
You
Answer document requests quickly. This is the single biggest lever on the timeline.
Me
Assemble the file, clear conditions, and chase the appraisal.
Don't change jobs, open a credit card, or move large sums between accounts. Any of those restarts work.
- Week 2–33–7 days
Underwriting
You
Usually nothing. Occasionally one more letter or statement.
Me
Respond to conditions the same day they're raised.
Conditional approval is normal and is not a problem. Almost every file gets conditions.
- Week 33 days before
Clear to close
You
Review the Closing Disclosure. Arrange your wire.
Me
Confirm final figures and walk you through the CD line by line.
Federal rules require you to have the CD three business days before closing. Verify wire instructions by phone — wire fraud in real estate is common and unrecoverable.
- Closingabout an hour
Keys
You
Sign at the title company. Bring ID.
Me
Be reachable while you're in the room.
Then file your homestead exemption. The county will not remind you, and it caps how fast your taxable value can rise.
Honestly
What actually delays a closing
Almost never underwriting. Nearly always one of these four.
Slow documents
A file waits on whatever it is missing. Same-day responses close on time; week-long gaps do not.
Appraisal scheduling
In a busy market this is the genuine bottleneck, and it is largely outside anyone's control.
New credit
Financing furniture before closing changes your debt ratio and can undo an approval days out.
Large deposits
Any unusual deposit needs sourcing. Move gift money early, not the week before closing.
Day 0 takes fifteen minutes.
No documents, no credit pull. Just a realistic answer about where you stand.