3 Things That Could Derail Your Home Purchase After an Accepted Offer

If the sellers have accepted your offer, you may assume you'll be moving in -- but that's not necessarily the case. 

If you're shopping for a home, finding a property you love and getting the sellers to accept your offer likely feels like overcoming a major hurdle. That's especially true in today's real estate market, which remains competitive.

Unfortunately, you can't assume that an accepted offer always means you're going to be moving in. In fact, there are three things that could end up derailing your purchase and leaving you unable to complete the transaction. Here's what they are.

1. Financing problems

An inability to get an affordable mortgage is one of the biggest issues that could make a pending home sale fall apart. Most people cannot pay cash to cover the entire cost of a property. If a lender won't provide the money to go through with the purchase, chances are good you'll have to walk away.

There are many reasons why a lender might not decide to go through with giving you a loan to buy a property you've made an offer on. Lenders may believe you can't really afford the payments, for example. Or there could be something wrong with the property that causes lenders not to be willing to loan money to buy it, such as a dispute over who the legal owner is.

You can avoid some of these financing problems by getting pre-approved for a home loan, which would enable the lender to evaluate your financial credentials before you make an offer on a specific home. This can help ensure you don't run into problems with your own qualifications. But it's impossible to avoid all financing issues since you often can't predict what will go wrong with a specific home. 

2. A low appraisal 

Most lenders require a home appraisal before giving you a mortgage. And even if you aren't borrowing, you may want to get one. The purpose of the appraisal is for a professional to assess what the home is worth based on comparable sales.

If an appraisal comes in that shows the home's value is below the price you are paying for it, this could also cause problems. Since your lender wants to confirm the home can act as collateral to guarantee the loan and insure against losses, lenders might not be willing to loan the necessary funds to buy if an appraisal comes in low. And even if you're paying cash, you may not want to overpay. 

In the event of a low appraisal, you can always ask the sellers to take money off to come down to the amount the appraiser said the property is worth. But there's no guarantee of that, and if they won't, you may not be able to move forward -- or you may not want to. 

3. Problems with the inspection

Finally, if an issue shows up with the home inspection, it can be another big reason not to buy. Surprise problems with the home could mean you'd have to make costly repairs, or even that the home is beyond repair. Unless the sellers are willing to reduce the price, or you're comfortable buying despite the issue, this could be a dealbreaker. 

You'll likely want to include an appraisal, inspection, and financing contingency in your offer so if these issues arise, you can walk away without losing your deposit. This is one of the best ways to protect yourself in case things go wrong that derail your home purchase after an offer has been accepted. It's definitely worth thinking about to avoid a big financial loss.