The formal home-buying process begins when the buyer makes a written offer to buy a house. If the seller accepts your offer as it is written and also signs it, it becomes a binding legal contract. You might hear your real estate agent or Libertyville, IL real estate lawyer refer to the house as being “under contract” at this time. This is normally the point where it is too late to back out of a sale without repercussions. However, you may still be able to back out of the purchase if you have a valid reason.
When you make an offer on a home, you are not blindly agreeing to buy the home no matter what. A properly written offer should list contingencies that would allow you to abandon the purchase. If one of those contingencies arises, you have grounds to refuse to follow through with buying the home. This makes things much more fair for buyers who have not yet had a chance to conduct a thorough inspection or have an attorney carry out the necessary legal research on the property.