Panicked? Well, maybe a little. Follow these suggestions (and your Realtor's advice) and you'll soon be the proud owner of a new home.

After you've made an offer on a property, you'll be asked to provide a check for the "earnest money", showing that you are a serious buyer. In Northern California, the standard of practice is that a deposit in the amount of 3% of the purchase price is placed into escrow. An attorney may also hold this deposit money or it may be placed in the broker's trust account, however this is not the usual practice in Northern California. A Title Company holds most escrow monies. Make sure that there are sufficient funds in your account to cover this check.

If your offer is accepted, the deposit check will be cashed by the Title Company. Assuming the sale goes through, this money will be applied to the purchase price of the home. If for any reason the sale is not consummated, you may be entitled to receive all of your deposit back, less standard cancellation fees, or in certain instances, the seller may be able to retain this money as liquidated damages.

Prior to executing a purchase contract, it would be wise to speak with your counsel regarding whether or not it is in your best interest to have a "liquidated damages" clause as part of the contract. Liquidated damages clauses are standard in California real estate contracts. Your agent is not permitted to advise you to sign or not sign this clause. The clause is only valid when signed by both the buyer and seller.

The period that you are "in escrow" is often 21 days, but may be longer or shorter. During this time, each item specified in the contract must be completed satisfactorily. By the time you have opened escrow, you have come to an agreement with the seller on the closing date and the contingencies. Each contract is different, but most include the following:

1. Inspection contingency. Inspections should be completed as soon as possible after the purchase contract is signed, as unsatisfactory results of the inspection may mean that you will want to cancel the contract.
   
2. Financing contingency. Once the contract is signed, you have a period of time to secure funding. If, for any reason, you are unable to secure funding during the period of time granted to you by the contract (and the seller will not provide a written extension of time), you must decide whether you want to remove the contingency and take your chances on getting a loan or cancel the purchase contract.
   
3. The seller must provide marketable title. With an attorney or title officer, review the title report. The title must be "clear" to ensure that you don't have legal issues regarding your ownership.

Check into local and state ordinances regarding property transfer and make sure that you and/or the seller have complied with them.

Secure homeowner's insurance. This may or may not be required before you can close the sale. It would be in your best interest to apply for insurance as soon as possible after the contract is signed. If you are purchasing a condominium, it is often best to purchase a matching insurance policy with the insurer of the building. In this way you can be assured of no gaps or overlaps.

Contact local utility companies to schedule to have service turned on or transferred to your name when you close escrow.

Schedule the final walk-through inspection. At this time, you should make sure that the property is exactly as the contract says it should be. What you thought to be a "permanently attached" chandelier that would come with the property might have been removed by the seller and replaced with a different fixture entirely.

You've made it! Once the sale has closed, you're the proud owner of a new home. Congratulations!