Making An Offer
Put yourself in the sellers shoes and imagine how they will react to everything you’re about to put in your offer. Oral promises are not legally enforceable when it comes to the sale of real estate. Please be sure you have communicated everything you want in the offer to your Realtor.
Price Have your REALTOR do a comparative market analysis for you. That will show you the fair market value of the property. The following factors could affect your offer price:
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Deposit Money You will be putting up some money to show the seller you are sincere about purchasing his home. |
Financing Contingency You will probably need to get a mortgage. |
Home Inspection Don’t skip this, whether it’s because you think you can check out the house yourself or you want to save the money a professional inspector charges – it’s money well spent in the long run. But remember, no home is perfect and small maintenance-type things found by the home inspector should not be part of any renegotiations with the seller. And don’t skip your final walk-through just because you had a home inspection. |
Make sure you received all the proper seller disclosures. Sellers may have completed a Seller Property Information Statement. Have your Realtor request a copy for your review. | Further, material defects MUST be disclosed if known by the seller. Look over these documents carefully – the laws that govern them limit your recourse once you’ve signed them. |
Multiple Offers
It doesn’t have to be a ‘hot’ market for a seller to have the luxury of choosing between multiple offers on their property. If you find yourself in a multiple offer situation don’t panic and don’t withdraw your offer – you may be the highest bidder and won’t even know it if you pull out. Go through at least one round of negotiations before you decide to withdraw. Have a price in your mind of where you want to go and stay in the game until that price has been reached. |
Too many buyers lose the property by pulling out too soon. Having a well-seasoned Realtor familiar with the process can be instrumental in Multiple Offers |