A financing contingency should connect your Salt Lake City purchase agreement to the loan you intend to obtain—and give you a clear understanding of the decisions required before each deadline. Ask your agent to explain the selected contract terms while your lender confirms the loan plan, remaining conditions and expected funding schedule. Keep appraisal protection separate from financing protection.
This matters even when you already have a preapproval. Your purchase agreement governs obligations between buyer and seller; the lender's review governs whether and on what terms it will fund the loan. A reassuring update from one does not automatically resolve a deadline in the other.
Match the offer to your financing plan
Before committing, discuss the proposed loan amount, available cash, expected monthly payment and the conditions still outstanding with your lender. Tell your agent if the purchase depends on selling another property, a particular loan program or another source of funds. Address those dependencies in the offer rather than assuming everyone understands them.
Utah's Real Estate Purchase Contract, effective December 4, 2024, separately identifies the new loan and the financing-condition selection. Its FHA/VA language calls for the relevant addendum. The parties may change the form or use a different agreement, so review your executed documents rather than relying on the blank form alone.
Have your agent or attorney explain ambiguous blanks, conflicting terms and any proposal to remove a protection. Do not select “no financing required” merely because you expect approval if you have not understood the resulting obligation.
Know what the Utah deadline changes
Section 8.3 of the cited REPC has different consequences before and after the Financing & Appraisal Deadline. When the financing condition applies, its pre-deadline cancellation provision addresses dissatisfaction with loan terms after the Due Diligence Deadline, if applicable; a filled-in dollar amount determines the deposit portion released to the seller. Its later loan-failure provision addresses undelivered loan proceeds and allocates the deposits to the seller. Ask an attorney to explain these provisions as completed and amended in your agreement before deciding how to proceed.
The practical question is not simply, “Can I cancel?” It is, “Which provision applies now, what action and delivery does it require, and what happens to my deposit?” Do not assume that every financing-related cancellation returns all earnest money.
Schedule a lender review ahead of the deadline. Ask what remains to be done, whether a material loan term has changed and whether the expected funding date is still workable. Leave room to discuss a problem while a timely contractual response remains possible.
Treat a low appraisal as a separate issue
The REPC's appraisal condition is separately selected even though it uses the Financing & Appraisal Deadline. If that selected protection is being used to cancel, Section 8.2 requires timely written notice with the Notice of Appraised Value. Have the actual requirements explained instead of assuming the financing selection covers the same issue.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains appraisals as independent value opinions that lenders may use when evaluating a property. If a value is lower than expected, ask the lender what it changes about the proposed loan and your cash requirement. Then discuss your contract options with your agent or attorney.
Possible conversations may involve a revised price, additional buyer funds or another agreed solution. None should be treated as available until the relevant parties agree and the lender confirms the financing treatment. The difference between price and appraised value is not, by itself, a complete calculation of revised buyer cash.
Review the actual cost of the loan
Use Loan Estimates to compare the loan you would be accepting, not just a quoted interest rate. The CFPB's loan-comparison guidance identifies the loan amount, monthly payment, upfront lender charges, credits and cash to close as useful comparison points. A lower estimate for taxes or insurance is not necessarily a lender saving; ask why assumptions differ.
Check whether the loan option and costs still fit your budget. If you are considering a lender change late in the transaction, confirm that the new lender can meet the needed schedule before relying on it. An attractive quote does not resolve the timing question.
Respond promptly to document requests and tell the lender about material changes affecting the application. Keep a clear list of what is outstanding and who is responsible for the next step. Ask directly whether an appraisal, insurance issue, property condition or borrower document is preventing progress.
Use a calendar to separate decisions from expectations
Consider this hypothetical sequence, not a standard Utah schedule. Your completed agreement has an October 2 Due Diligence Deadline, October 9 Financing & Appraisal Deadline and October 23 Settlement Deadline. On October 7, the lender is still waiting for an employment document.
The useful response is to find out when that document can be supplied and what other conditions remain, while discussing the October 9 decision with your agent or attorney. Waiting until October 23 because the loan officer remains optimistic would leave the earlier contractual issue unanswered.
If an extension is needed, address it through the appropriate written agreement. Do not treat a request, an ongoing conversation or a lender's revised estimate as an extension. Confirm the operative time and delivery requirements for any notice with the person advising you on the contract.
Keep your rate-lock expiration and the lender's funding target on the calendar too. They answer different questions from the contract's contingency and settlement dates. Ask what a delay would mean for cost, qualification and the transaction itself.
Prepare for funding and document review
For mortgages using the Closing Disclosure, the CFPB's closing-document guidance explains the requirement to receive it three business days before closing. Compare it with the latest Loan Estimate and resolve unexpected terms or charges with the lender. That federal review period is not an automatic amendment to your purchase agreement.
Ask the lender and closing team what still must happen for the loan proceeds to be delivered and the transaction to close. Coordinate that answer with the agreement's settlement and closing provisions rather than treating “approved,” “documents signed” and “funded” as interchangeable updates.
Coordinate your Salt Lake City financing timeline with Kamee Shrope. Bring your proposed loan, current lender conditions and signed agreement so you can organize the transaction around the actual protections, deadlines and funds required.