What does it mean to get a property under contract?

[Seneca Hampton]

I've got a dumb question (Trying to learn the process)..... What does it mean to get a property under contract? What does it look like (step by step)? What do you need to do that? Is this something an Attorney would do or I could download?

[Ursula B.]

We also use the term 'under contract' in NC. Usually the process goes something like:

1) Buyer completes an Offer to Purchase form and sends it to the Seller's agent with an Earnest Money Check;

2) Seller can reject the offer, counter the offer (meaning change some of the terms in the buyer's original offer), or accept the offer by signing the contract

3) The seller's agent then communicates the rejection, counter or acceptance to the buyer (or the buyer's agent). At the point of communication of the accepted offer, we are now 'under contract'.

A little oversimplified, but that's the basics of the process we follow.