What Happens After You Sign a Purchase Agreement in Connecticut
Signing puts the house under contract and starts a set of dated deadlines: attorney review, inspections, your mortgage commitment, and title work. They lead to a closing conducted by an attorney, usually 30 to 60 days later.
The short version: what happens between signing and closing
Signing is the start of the work, not the end of it. Your attorney reviews the contract on a short deadline. Your inspections and your mortgage commitment each run on deadlines of their own. Title work begins early in the transaction, not the week of closing. Missing seller disclosures turn into credits at the table. In the last week your lender clears its final conditions and you go over the closing disclosure. Then you close, typically 30 to 60 days after going under contract, and Connecticut law requires that closing be conducted by an attorney.
Mancuso Carey walks Connecticut buyers through these deadlines early in the transaction rather than in the last week before closing, when there is less room to fix whatever turns up. If you haven't signed yet, our free purchase and sale agreement review covers these dates while you can still do something about them.
Your deadlines run from the effective date, not the day you signed
Under Section 11 of the Connecticut Bar Association's model residential contract, the Effective Date is the last date on which all parties have signed, which is not necessarily the date you signed. Where a contract counts its deadlines from that date, they run from the day the last signature landed. The distinction is easy to miss, because it's natural to start counting the moment you put pen to paper. Read your own contract for which dates it sets and what they run from. The answer is written into the document. Our companion piece on what a Connecticut purchase and sale agreement actually says walks through the rest of the contract before you sign one.
Attorney review comes early, and the window is short
Attorney review is one of the earliest deadlines a Connecticut contract sets, and it's a short one. The Connecticut Bar Association's model residential contract calls it the Attorney Review Completion Date, and Section 7 of that form sets it at five business days unless the parties write in a longer period. That window comes from the contract itself, not from a state deadline that applies automatically, so it's there only if your agreement uses that model form or one carrying the same provision. Your contract states the actual date. Check it rather than counting days yourself. Under Section 12 of the model form, if either party or their attorney is not satisfied with any provision of the contract and gives notice before 5:00 p.m. on the Attorney Review Completion Date, the agreement becomes null and void and the buyer is entitled to an immediate return of every sum paid toward the purchase price. That is what this one clause does, and it applies to attorney review only. The other contingencies in a contract carry their own requirements and their own consequences. What any of it means for your deal comes down to the contract you actually signed and what your attorney finds in it.
Inspections and your mortgage commitment run on their own dates
Your inspections and your financing run on their own deadlines, separate from attorney review and separate from each other. In the CBA model form, Section 13 gives the buyer, at the buyer's own expense, until a "Research Completion Date" to complete the investigations checked off in Section 6. That list includes a home inspection and a radon test. Section 14 of that same form ties the mortgage contingency to the buyer obtaining a written loan commitment by a "Mortgage Contingency Date," with notice required before 5:00 p.m. if the buyer cannot obtain one. Other Connecticut contract forms are in use and their terms differ, so treat these as the shape of the deadlines rather than as your dates. The dates don't automatically line up with each other either, which is why it's worth putting all three on your own calendar the day you sign.
Your attorney starts on title early, not the week of closing
Title work starts early in the transaction, not the week of closing. Your attorney orders the title search once the purchase and sale agreement is signed, and it typically comes back within a week or less. We can rush one when the timeline calls for it. A third party performs the search, and it's billed separately at cost at closing rather than bundled into the attorney's fee. Your attorney reads what comes back and flags any defects to the seller's attorney, who is responsible for clearing them: an old lien, an unreleased mortgage, a gap in the chain of ownership. Clearing a defect usually means obtaining a release from the lender that held the old mortgage. The attorney obtains the release; the lender issues it.
A gap in the property's ownership history is a manageable problem with weeks in hand. It is a much harder one with days.
Two credits a Connecticut seller owes if the paperwork is missing
Two specific Connecticut disclosures carry a built-in credit to the buyer if the seller doesn't provide them. First, Connecticut's Uniform Property Condition Disclosure Act (C.G.S. §20-327b) requires a seller who is not exempt from it to give the buyer a property condition report before the buyer executes any binder, contract, option, or lease with a purchase option. If a non-exempt seller fails to furnish that report, state law requires a $500 credit to the buyer at closing (C.G.S. §20-327c). The report is not a substitute for your own inspections and tests. The form says so on its face. It discloses what the seller knows; it doesn't replace what your inspector finds. Second, Connecticut requires operable smoke and carbon monoxide equipment in one-to-two-family homes sold or transferred on or after October 1, 2023, and the seller signs an affidavit of compliance at closing. Section 18(f) of the CBA model contract gives the buyer a $250 credit at closing if the seller does not provide that affidavit. The two credits come from different places, and the difference matters. The $500 is statutory, so it applies whichever contract form you used. The $250 is a term of the model contract, so it depends on your agreement carrying it.
The week of closing, and closing day
The week before closing, your lender's final conditions get cleared and your attorney reviews the closing disclosure with you so the numbers aren't a surprise at the table. Many Connecticut contracts also give the buyer a look at the property before closing. Section 17 of the CBA model form gives the buyer the right to make a final inspection prior to closing, and requires the seller to leave the place "broom-clean." Whether that right applies to your deal, and how it works, depends on the specific contract you signed. On closing day itself, your attorney confirms wire instructions directly with you before any funds move, finishes the closing package, and conducts the closing. Connecticut law requires closings be conducted by an attorney. The appointment itself is short, generally up to 45 minutes at the table.
The most useful moment to talk to an attorney is before you sign, which is advice that arrives too late if you already have. If you're past that point on this deal, a free consultation with Mancuso Carey will tell you where your file actually stands and what comes next. For a closer look at closing day itself, see our step-by-step guide to the Connecticut closing process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who orders the title search, and when?
Your attorney orders the title search, not the seller's, and it happens early in the transaction, after the purchase and sale agreement is signed, not the week of closing. It typically comes back within a week or less, and we can rush one when the timeline calls for it.
What does the title search cost?
A third party performs the title search, not the law firm, and it's billed separately from the attorney's flat fee at the vendor's actual cost, due at closing. It isn't folded into any other charge on your file.
I'm out of state. Do I have to come to Connecticut to sign?
Not necessarily. Remote signing can be arranged for out-of-state buyers and sellers, and a signing professional can travel to you rather than the other way around. Buyers still need to sign in wet ink, so a scanned or electronic signature won't do, but that signing doesn't have to happen inside Connecticut.
How long does a Connecticut closing take from accepted offer?
Most Connecticut residential closings take 30 to 60 days from an accepted offer to the closing table. Cash transactions can move faster, sometimes in as little as two weeks.
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Real estate laws vary by jurisdiction and individual circumstances differ. Contact Mancuso Carey to discuss your specific situation.