DRAFTA working draft — not yet checked against reality by a person. Read it, but confirm before you rely on it.
Contract to Close
From yes to closed — pick the lane, sign + diligence, close, then stay in touch. · tap to zoom & pan
Move a signed appointment through title, stop-the-sale, and funding without losing it to ghosting.
WhoJason
WhenA purchase agreement gets signed
Time~60 min
THE ONE RULEA contract is halftime, not the finish line, most of the risk happens after the signature.
The steps · 11
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If the auction is fewer than 40 days out, treat loan mod as ineligible on sight (it has a…
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If the sale date is still active, run the stop-the-sale play in parallel with title (see…
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Tap a step to open its detail.
NEVERMark a deal Won before title has transferred and funds have moved
NEVERLet a subject-to deal fund without the reversion terms and reserves documented
ALWAYSCheck in at 48 hours then every 5 to 7 days through closing to prevent ghosting
ALWAYSRun a preliminary title search before any money moves
Why this matters+
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 this+
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
Before you start+
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
How to know it worked+
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 its full six-document stack in place (purchase agreement, subject-to addendum/disclosure, notarized durable LPOA, payoff and loan authorization, cost proration, default-and-reversion), plus 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
If it goes sideways+
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.