Contract → Close (Subto / Cash / Stop-the-Sale)

PURPOSE

Turn a signed appointment into a closed deal without losing it to ghosting, a bad title surprise, or a stalled stop-the-sale. The Five Options framework decides which lane the deal runs (cash, subject-to, or a straight stop-the-sale for a hardship path), and each lane has its own doc set and its own risk gates. Getting a contract is halftime, not the finish line, most of the work and most of the risk happens after the signature.

WHEN TO USE

• An appointment has been run and the seller is ready to move forward on one of the Five Options
• A signed purchase agreement exists and needs to move through title, stop-the-sale, and funding
• A subject-to deal needs its milestone clock, income verification, and reserve check before it is treated as closeable
• A probate lead needs its two-stage contract (pre-authority PSA, then the post-letters contract) tracked correctly

PREREQUISITES

• The Five Options were presented in the fixed order (reinstatement, loan mod, Chapter 13 bankruptcy, cash sale, subject-to) and each option was eliminated with the seller's own agreement before advancing to the next
• Subject-to should only be selected once the other four options are marked ruled out, or with a documented manual override
• A pre-filled purchase agreement, proof-of-funds packet, and novation/subto packet are ready to hand the seller on the spot
• A power-team contact is available: an investor-friendly title company or attorney, a hard-money or private lender, and where relevant a probate attorney

STEPS

1. Run the Five Options in order at the appointment: sit the seller down, ask them to catch you up on the last 6 to 12 months, walk through reinstatement first (their favorite, and the one that pre-empts "you're just here to steal my house"), then loan mod, then bankruptcy, then cash sale, then subject-to. Eliminate each one with a tie-down in the seller's own words before moving to the next.
2. If the auction is fewer than 40 days out, treat loan mod as ineligible on sight (it has a hard 40-day deadline before auction) and move the conversation straight to a contingent purchase agreement conversation instead of spending time on it.
3. Once the seller lands on cash or subject-to, close with the value-driven close: recap their stated vision in their own words, ask if solving those things is something they want to move forward with, then get the purchase agreement signed on the spot. Sweep for every decision-maker (spouse, co-borrower, family member) before finalizing, a missing decision-maker is a common reason a signed deal falls apart later.
4. Immediately after signing, before driving away, do the aftermath protocol: a 60 to 90 second voice brain-dump to the transaction coordinator covering price, sale date, condition, and problems, scan the contract to the TC, upload photos, and update the CRM. Save your name, the TC's name, and the title contact's name in the seller's phone before you leave, and set a specific next-contact day and time, never a vague "next week."
5. Contact within 48 hours of signing: 2 to 3 check-in touches in the first 48 hours, then once every 5 to 7 days through closing. Keep it human: "how are you, are you making your move?" This prevents ghosting and cold feet, which is the single biggest post-contract risk.
6. Open escrow with an investor-friendly title company and run a preliminary title search immediately. Confirm who is actually foreclosing, check for surviving liens (property taxes always survive, HUD partial-claim liens survive and are often hidden, junior liens are generally wiped if properly noticed), and confirm all heirs or co-owners are accounted for before spending any money.
7. If the sale date is still active, run the stop-the-sale play in parallel with title (see sop-kod-stop-the-sale), using the purchase agreement and proof of funds as the leverage documents.
8. For a subject-to deal specifically: verify the occupant's current income before finalizing any stay-and-rent arrangement, and set rent at PITI plus roughly a $250 buffer. Document reserves for an 18-month worst-case carry, if reserves are not documented, route the lead to the assign bucket instead of the close bucket. Set a hard written deadline with a consequence clause for every post-possession extension. If the occupant goes fully silent with no text and no call, that triggers immediate eviction filing with no further grace period. Create a Month 12 follow-up task to file DTI-relief paperwork with the lender.
9. For a probate lead specifically: sign the Stage 1 PSA immediately on first contact even though it is not yet legally enforceable, it creates commitment. Once letters of administration are issued, execute the Stage 2 contract or amendment naming the administrator as seller representative, this is what makes the deal court-enforceable. Gate every probate lead on the six due-diligence questions: was there a will, has probate been opened, who has or will have authority, have letters of administration been issued, does this probate type require court approval to sell, and has the early contract been updated with an amendment since authority issued.
10. Pre-shop the deal to your cash buyer list before or as soon as the contract is signed. Send a personal, detailed text with photos flagging roof, foundation, and sewer condition, never a mass blast. Match the buyer to the deal on cash speed, willingness to blind-buy on media, and spread-indifference.
11. Fund and close. For a subject-to, this means taking title while the loan stays in the seller's name and making payments going forward. For cash, this means the assignment or double-close funds through title. Mark the deal Won only once title has actually transferred and funds have moved, not at signature.

VERIFICATION

• Each of the Five Options was actually walked through and eliminated in order, not skipped straight to a pitch
• A preliminary title search happened before any money moved, and any surviving lien is accounted for in the deal math
• Post-contract check-ins happened on the 48-hour-then-weekly cadence, with no gap longer than 5 to 7 days
• Every subject-to deal has documented income verification, reserves, a written milestone deadline, and a Month 12 DTI task
• Every probate deal has both the Stage 1 PSA and, once letters issue, the Stage 2 contract, and the six due-diligence questions are answered on the lead

TROUBLESHOOTING

• Problem: The seller goes quiet after signing. Fix: Check whether the 48-hour and 5-to-7-day check-in cadence was actually followed. If a gap opened up, resume immediately with a brief human check-in call, not a legal or contractual message.
• Problem: Title search reveals an unexpected lien after the deal is already moving. Fix: Stop before spending further money. Recheck who is foreclosing and whether the lien is senior or junior to that action. A HUD partial-claim lien in particular is not on the bid sheet and needs to be priced into the deal or the deal needs to be re-negotiated.
• Problem: A subject-to occupant stops paying or stops responding. Fix: Confirm the communication-or-evict rule was set at the start. If they have gone fully silent (no text, no call), file eviction immediately, there is no additional grace period once that threshold is met.
• Problem: A probate deal stalls because authority is unclear. Fix: Go back to the six due-diligence questions. Most lost probate deals come from proceeding without understanding who actually has authority to sign; do not advance the pipeline stage until that is answered.