It took a really long time for our application to be processed. I want to say at least 3 weeks, possibly more. I called several times and they just happened to be extremely swamped. I first applied around August, and it's February now and I'm still in the process of buying a house. I am in my second purchase agreement (first one fell through) so my situation is maybe a little more unique. USDA may require some additional paperwork to process your loan. It never hurts to call and check.
Anyway, once you receive your Certificate of Eligibility if you are approved, you are able to look for a house. You have 45 days to enter into a purchase agreement from whenever the Certificate is dated. If you do not enter into a purchase agreement by then, you can receive up to two 30-day extensions. If you still do not find a house, then you need to start the entire application process over.
When you do enter into a purchase agreement (if you are doing a new construction, then the process is probably going to be a lot different), then the USDA office is going to do their own assessment of the property. From the day they do this assessment, you have 10 days to order a home inspection and have it completed. You must pay this out of your own pocket. When the home inspection is completed, then you submit the report to the USDA office and they will go through it and give you a list of required repairs. These repairs either need to be negotiated with the seller or you need to receive bids from licensed contractors for the repairs. You can either have a few minor repairs or a laundry list of things that need to be done, it really depends on the house and what condition it is in. We are in a new purchase agreement and this is where we are at in the process. We have a month to either negotiate with the seller for these repairs or receive bids. An important note is that these repairs will not be made until after closing. Moving on, after the repairs are squared away, then the appraisal is ordered. The appraisal is done with the future repairs considered (if necessary). Example: with the house we're buying, we are going to build a fence and have the cost of the fence rolled into the loan (if the appraisal works out). The appraiser is going to appraise the house at the value with the fence that will eventually be built. I don't know exactly what is done after this because I haven't made it this far, but I'm assuming the USDA runs our credit again and makes sure our financial situation hasn't changed since we first were approved and USDA begins the closing stuff. Any repairs that were to be made by the seller are probably checked by USDA before receiving a clear to close, but that's only an assumption.
Wow, sorry for the novel. I hope this helps even a little bit. I have spent so much time on the phone with USDA for the last 5 months it's not even funny. I wish you good luck and I hope you receive an approval letter soon!
