What Happens After Your Offer Is Accepted in Reno? A Week-by-Week Guide to the Contingency Period

by Nicole Montero Gozza

Introduction

Your offer on a Reno home was accepted. Congratulations — and now the real work begins. The period between accepted offer and closing day is where most transactions either solidify or fall apart. It is where inspection findings create negotiation pressure, where appraisals come in below purchase price and force difficult decisions, where lenders request documentation that was not asked for at pre-approval, and where missed contingency deadlines can cost a buyer their earnest money or a seller their closing date.

Most buyers in Reno have no clear picture of what this period involves when they make their offer. They have a rough sense that there will be an inspection and some paperwork. What they do not have is a week-by-week understanding of what is happening, who is responsible for what, what the deadlines are, and what the consequences of missing them look like.

We are Turner Montero Luxury Real Estate Group, a Northern Nevada real estate team with more than a decade as top producers and more than 214 closed transactions across Reno’s primary submarkets. This guide covers the Reno contingency period week by week — what happens, what the risks are, and what buyers and sellers need to do at each stage to reach closing without avoidable complications.

Key Takeaways

The contingency period in a standard Reno financed purchase runs 30 to 45 days from accepted offer to close. Each week has distinct activities, deadlines, and decision points.
The inspection contingency deadline is typically the earliest and most consequential. Missing it without a written extension can forfeit the buyer’s right to negotiate based on inspection findings.
Appraisals in Reno’s current market can come in below purchase price when buyers have offered above comparable support. Understanding your options before the appraisal is ordered is more useful than learning them after.
Loan commitment deadlines are not suggestions. Lenders who miss them create contract complications. Buyers whose lenders are disorganized have less leverage to extend than buyers who can demonstrate the delay is not their fault.
Communication between buyer, agent, lender, and title company determines whether complications surface early or at the closing table. Proactive agents track every deadline and alert clients before — not after — they become urgent.
The final walkthrough is a condition check, not a second inspection. Buyers who arrive at the final walkthrough expecting to renegotiate based on new findings are confusing two very different processes.

Reno Contingency Period at a Glance

Timeframe	Primary Activity	Key Deadline / Risk
Days 1–2	Earnest money delivery; inspection scheduling	Earnest money typically due within 1–3 business days of acceptance
Days 3–7	Home inspection conducted; report delivered	Inspection contingency period begins; typically 7–14 days from acceptance
Days 5–14	Inspection review; repair requests or credits negotiated	Written repair request or notice of satisfaction must be delivered before deadline
Days 7–14	Lender orders appraisal	Appraisal ordered promptly after acceptance to meet overall close timeline
Days 14–21	Appraisal completed and delivered	If below purchase price, buyer has options; decision needed quickly
Days 14–25	Underwriting review; lender conditions issued and cleared	Loan commitment deadline typically Days 21–28; documentation responsive turnaround critical
Days 25–30	Title search completed; title conditions cleared	Seller must address any title issues before closing; timing affects close date
Days 28–35	Clear to close issued; closing scheduled	Final walkthrough; signing appointment; funding
Days 30–45	Closing day	Funds wired; deed recorded; keys transferred

Week 1: Earnest Money, Inspections, and the First Decisions

Delivering Earnest Money

In most Reno purchase contracts, earnest money is due to the escrow or title company within one to three business days of offer acceptance. This is not a guideline — late earnest money delivery is a contract default that can give the seller grounds to declare the agreement void. Confirm the exact deadline in your contract, have the funds ready to wire or deliver by cashier’s check, and confirm receipt with the title company.

Scheduling the Inspection

In Reno’s current market, quality home inspectors book out three to five business days. Scheduling the inspection on the day of acceptance — not after the earnest money is confirmed, not after you have talked to family members — is the discipline that allows you to receive the report, review it, and submit a written response before your inspection contingency deadline expires.

We schedule inspection appointments the same day an offer is accepted for every buyer we represent. Waiting even two days can create a timeline crunch that forces a choice between a rushed review and requesting an extension the seller may or may not agree to.

What to Do With the Inspection Report

The inspection report is not a punch list of everything that needs to be fixed before closing. It is a documented account of the property’s condition that informs three possible responses: requesting specific repairs or a credit in lieu of repairs, accepting the property in its current condition and proceeding, or — in cases of significant undisclosed problems — exercising the inspection contingency to exit the contract and recover earnest money.

The strategic question is not “what is wrong with this house” — it is “what findings create material risk to the buyer, and which of those did the seller’s disclosures not address?” We review every inspection report with our buyers within 24 hours of delivery and categorize findings by material risk, negotiability, and disclosure alignment before recommending a response.

Week 2: Appraisal, Repair Negotiation, and Underwriting Begins

The Appraisal: What It Does and What Happens When It Comes In Low

Your lender will order an appraisal of the Reno property — typically within the first week after acceptance — to confirm that the property’s value supports the loan amount. Appraisals in Reno’s market take seven to fourteen days from order to delivery. The appraiser compares the property to recent comparable sales and issues a value opinion.

If the appraisal comes in at or above your purchase price: the financing process continues without complication on the appraisal front.

If the appraisal comes in below your purchase price: you have four options.

Renegotiate the purchase price to the appraised value. The seller agrees to a price reduction. This is the most common resolution when the gap is modest.
Pay the appraisal gap in cash. You proceed at the original price and bring additional cash to cover the difference between the appraised value and your offer. This is only viable if you have the reserves.
Split the gap. Buyer and seller each absorb a portion of the difference. Common in situations where neither party wants to start over.
Exercise the appraisal contingency. If you included an appraisal contingency in your offer, you can exit the contract and recover your earnest money. If you waived the appraisal contingency, you are obligated to close at your offer price regardless of what the appraiser found.

Understanding these options before the appraisal is ordered — not after the result arrives — is the preparation that prevents panic decisions. We discuss appraisal gap strategy with every buyer before we submit an offer in Reno.

Repair Negotiation Discipline

Inspection repair requests in Reno should be submitted in writing before the inspection contingency deadline, cover only material items (not normal wear and ongoing maintenance), and be specific about what is being requested — a dollar credit, a specific repair with a licensed contractor, or a price reduction. Vague repair requests invite vague responses. Specific requests invite specific counter-offers.

We advise our buyers to prioritize inspection findings by category: safety hazards and major structural issues first, material systems issues second (roof, HVAC, plumbing, electrical), and cosmetic items not at all. Requesting a credit for 30 items produces a defensive seller response. Requesting a credit for three material items produces a negotiation.

Week 3: Underwriting, Title, and the Loan Commitment Deadline

What Underwriting Actually Involves

Underwriting is the lender’s formal review of your loan file — every document supporting your income, assets, employment, and the property value. Even buyers who were fully pre-approved frequently encounter underwriting conditions: additional documentation requests, explanation letters for unusual deposits or employment gaps, updated pay stubs or bank statements, or HOA documentation for condo purchases.

Responsive document turnaround in the underwriting phase is the buyer’s primary contribution to meeting the loan commitment deadline. Lenders who receive requested documentation the same day they ask for it can keep the file moving. Buyers who take three to five days to respond to documentation requests create timeline compression that forces lenders to request deadline extensions — which sellers in Reno’s market may or may not agree to grant.

Loan Commitment Deadline

The loan commitment deadline — typically days 21 to 28 in a standard Reno purchase contract — is the date by which your lender must issue a formal commitment to fund your loan. Missing this deadline without a written extension from the seller can put your earnest money at risk and give the seller grounds to cancel the contract.

The loan commitment deadline is the contingency deadline that most often creates late-stage transaction stress, because it is dependent on both the buyer’s document responsiveness and the lender’s processing capacity. Buyers with organized documentation and lenders who have closed comparable loans in Reno recently meet it. Buyers who chose lenders unfamiliar with Nevada’s title and closing conventions, or who are slow to respond to documentation requests, frequently do not.

Title Search and Any Title Conditions

Your title company is simultaneously conducting a title search — reviewing public records to confirm that the seller has clear ownership and that no liens, encumbrances, or competing claims affect the property. Most Reno residential transactions produce clean title searches. When title conditions are found — an unresolved mechanics’ lien, an easement that was not disclosed, a gap in the ownership chain — the seller is responsible for clearing them before closing. The earlier these are identified, the more time exists to resolve them without affecting the close date.

Week 4: Clear to Close, Final Walkthrough, and Closing Day

Clear to Close

“Clear to close” is the lender’s confirmation that all underwriting conditions have been satisfied and the loan is approved to fund. It is typically issued two to five business days before the scheduled closing date. When you receive clear to close, your lender sends the closing disclosure — a detailed breakdown of your final loan terms, closing costs, and cash to close — which federal law requires you to receive at least three business days before signing.

Review the closing disclosure against the loan estimate you received at pre-approval. Significant unexplained differences in fees or loan terms should be raised with your lender before closing day, not discovered at the signing table.

The Final Walkthrough

The final walkthrough — typically conducted 24 to 48 hours before closing — is a condition verification, not a second inspection. Its purpose is to confirm that: the property is in substantially the same condition as when the offer was accepted, any repairs the seller agreed to in the inspection negotiation have been completed, all personal property included in the purchase is present, and no new damage has occurred since the inspection.

Buyers who arrive at the final walkthrough hoping to renegotiate items that should have been addressed during the inspection contingency period are misusing the process. The final walkthrough is not the time to raise new concerns about cosmetic items. It is the time to verify that agreed repairs were completed and that nothing material has changed. If it has — a water heater has failed, a tree has fallen on the roof — that is a legitimate closing-day issue that your agent should address immediately with the listing agent.

Closing Day

Closing day in a Reno residential transaction involves signing the loan documents (several dozen pages that your escrow officer will walk you through), wiring or verifying the transfer of closing funds, and waiting for the county recorder to record the deed. Recording typically happens the same day in Washoe County for transactions that fund by early afternoon. Once recording is confirmed, the keys transfer.

Most Reno closings take two to four hours for the signing appointment and one to three additional hours for recording and key transfer. Remote signing via notary is available for buyers who cannot be physically present. Confirm the process with your title company and agent at least a week before the scheduled close date.

What Goes Wrong in the Reno Contingency Period and How to Prevent It

Missed Inspection Deadline

Cause: inspection scheduled too late; report delivered without time for review before deadline. Prevention: schedule inspection the day of acceptance; confirm deadline in writing; request extension at least 48 hours before it expires if needed.

Appraisal Below Purchase Price

Cause: offer was submitted above comparable support; market shifted between offer and appraisal. Prevention: offer within comparable-supported range; discuss appraisal gap strategy before submission; understand your options before the appraisal is ordered.

Loan Commitment Deadline Missed

Cause: slow document turnaround by buyer; lender unfamiliar with Nevada closing conventions; underwriting conditions that required multiple rounds of clarification. Prevention: choose a lender who has closed comparable Reno transactions recently; organize all documentation before the underwriting phase begins; respond to every lender documentation request within 24 hours.

Final Walkthrough Reveals Uncompleted Repairs

Cause: seller agreed to inspection repairs but did not complete them before closing. Prevention: request repair completion verification (receipts, contractor invoices) at least three days before the final walkthrough; do not accept verbal confirmation; if repairs are incomplete on walkthrough day, address it before signing rather than after.

Conclusion

The Reno contingency period is a defined process with defined milestones, defined risks, and defined remedies — none of which require improvisation if you understand them before acceptance day. Buyers who enter the contingency period with a clear picture of the timeline, a responsive lender, an organized documentation process, and an agent who communicates proactively at every milestone consistently reach closing without the stress that characterizes the process for buyers who are learning it as they go.

Turner Montero Luxury Real Estate Group tracks every contingency milestone for every buyer we represent, communicates proactively rather than reactively, and prepares clients for every decision point before it arrives rather than after. If you are buying in Reno and want to understand what the contingency period will look like for your specific transaction, reach us at nicolemonterogozza.com or (775) 781-4808.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the contingency period for a home purchase in Reno?

Most financed purchases in Reno close in 30 to 45 days from accepted offer, with the inspection contingency typically expiring in the first 7 to 14 days and the loan commitment deadline falling around days 21 to 28. Cash purchases can close in 14 to 21 days. Estate and trust sales may take longer.

What happens if I miss an inspection contingency deadline in Nevada?

Missing the inspection contingency deadline without a written extension from the seller typically results in the contingency being deemed waived — meaning you lose the right to negotiate based on inspection findings and may forfeit earnest money if you attempt to exit the contract on inspection grounds.

Can I get my earnest money back if the appraisal comes in low?

If you have an appraisal contingency in your Nevada purchase contract and the property appraises below your purchase price, you can typically exit the contract and recover your earnest money. If you waived the appraisal contingency, you are generally obligated to close at the agreed price regardless of the appraisal result.

What is the final walkthrough for in a Reno home purchase?

The final walkthrough, conducted 24 to 48 hours before closing, verifies that the property is in substantially the same condition as when the offer was accepted, that agreed inspection repairs have been completed, and that all included personal property is present. It is not a second inspection or an opportunity to raise new negotiating points.

What does “clear to close” mean?

Clear to close means the lender has satisfied all underwriting conditions and approved the loan to fund. It is typically issued two to five business days before the scheduled closing date and triggers the issuance of the closing disclosure.

Who should I contact if something goes wrong during the Reno contingency period?

Your real estate agent is the primary coordinator for contingency-period complications involving inspection findings, repair negotiation, appraisal disputes, and final walkthrough issues. Your lender is the contact for financing-related complications. Your title company handles closing logistics and title conditions. An agent who is proactively tracking milestones surfaces complications early enough to address them; an agent who is reactive surfaces them too late.