End of the month, and bank holidays

Just a friendly word of advice to anyone reading this. I've said this before, but it bears repeating. If you haven't heard about an offer by Friday afternoon, you're not going to. You're not likely to hear on Monday either--the asset managers are dealing with the pile of paperwork on their desk that the listing agent has forwarded to them, after it piled up on his or her desk over the weekend.
If you haven't heard about your offer and it's within three business days of the end of the month, you're not likely to get an answer. Everyone is trying to close the deal before the end of the month to avoid recalculating property taxes for the escrow impound account.
While your offer is really important to your agent, the other people in the transaction chain, might have different priorities, at least at these particular times. I, and any agent getting paid on a commission (almost all of us) will definitely let you know if there has been a counter-offer, rejection, or acceptance. It's in our financial interest to do so.
It's August 29, and Saturday, enjoy your weekend.

During Escrow

This is basic to anyone who is in escrow for a house and is getting a loan (which is the majority of home buyers). Don't buy any more things on credit. You could negatively affect your credit score and disqualify yourself for the loan you're working on, and have to start over...if you can.
The reason not to charge anything is that lenders typically run your credit before closing escrow to make sure you can still make all of your payment obligations. If you make large purchases during this time(the time from the acceptance of your offer to the funding of the loan), you will change your debt to income ratio and change the loan program you're eligible for. If you have marginal credit you may disqualify yourself completely, especially in today's more stringent credit market.