Since buyers seem to be coming out of the woodwork these last few weeks, it seems like a good time to talk about that important moment when you've found the right house, wrote a great offer and now wait in suspended animation for something to happen!

So, what, exactly happens after you wave your good-byes to the real estate agent and walk out of their office? Here's how things typically proceed in our area.

First of all, in addition to the offer, you'll have written a check made out to the broker who is representing you. That check is called an earnest money deposit. That check stays with your agent until you have a ratified contract. At that point it will get deposited in an escrow account where it will remain at settlement.

Now the agent will fax or e-mail the offer to the listing agent. Your agent will then follow up by phone to make sure tha that the offer arrived and to find out when the offer will be presented to the sellers.

Since the offer states that "time is of the essence" the offer should be presented as soon as reasonably possible. Within 24 hours is usually workable. There may be special circumstances, especially now, with so many sellers having already vacated their homes. And, in some instances the presenting of the offer will take place via phone, fax and/or e-mail.

The sellers will decide to either accept your offer, counter your offer, or reject your offer. Let's assume they may want to sleep on it, but typically, you should have an answer within 24 to 48 hours.

If they accept your offer, then you're going to begin the process of executing that contract, proceeding to loan application, inspections, etc.

If they counter your offer the ball is back in your court again and you need to decide how to respond. Again, remember that "time is of the essence". It makes sense to have thought through likely counter offers when you write the original offer so that you can be prepared to make some quick decisions.

If they reject your offer, in my opinion, in this market, they don't really want to sell their home and shouldn't have it on the market. No matter how bad an offer is right now, sensible sellers will counter it. It's hard to negotiate without an offer on the table! And, no offer means no sale!

If they reject your offer with absolutely no negotiation you should keep looking!

Ultimately, hopefully, you end up with a ratified contract. A contract is ratified when every party to the contract has agreed to every provision, including all changes. At that point all the "i's" are dotted and the "t's" are crossed.  It's now a legally binding document! Congratulations!