Once an offer is accepted, most people have no idea what happens next, and the silence is where anxiety comes from. Here's the actual sequence for a typical California residential purchase.
Escrow opens
A neutral third party (the escrow company) takes the signed contract and the buyer's earnest money deposit, and holds everything until conditions are met. Title work starts at the same time: a preliminary report showing liens, easements, and anything clouding the title.
Inspections and the contingency period
The buyer typically has around 17 days by default in the standard contract, though it's negotiable. General inspection, plus specialists as needed. Sewer line, roof, foundation, pool, chimney. In the Valley, sewer lateral and foundation issues are the ones that most often produce a renegotiation.
The seller delivers disclosures during this window. In California those are extensive and legally serious: the Transfer Disclosure Statement, natural hazard report, and a set of statutory disclosures. Under-disclosing is the fastest way to create liability that outlives the sale.
Appraisal
If the buyer is financing, the lender orders an appraisal. If it comes in below the contract price, the buyer either brings the difference in cash, the price gets renegotiated, or the deal falls apart. This is where accurate initial pricing pays off, an over-priced listing tends to fail here rather than at offer stage.
Loan approval and docs
Underwriting finishes, the loan is approved, and loan documents go to escrow for the buyer to sign and notarize. This step slips more often than any other, and it's usually documentation on the buyer's side rather than anything about the property.
Funding and recording
The lender wires funds to escrow. Escrow confirms everything is in, then sends the deed to the county recorder.