Buying a home is one of the most exciting yet stressful times in your life. If you have been searching and found the perfect home, you will want to make the best offer to ensure the seller accepts. In today’s market, it is very important to make an offer that will beat out all the other offers on the table. Here are some key steps to take when making an offer on your dream home.
1. Be Prepared and Do Your Research
You do not want to fall in love with what you think is your dream home only to find out that you can’t afford it. Even if you can skimp by, you do not want to be house poor. Create a budget that will give you a start to what you can and cannot afford. Once you know what you can afford, you will need to find a lender and obtain a pre-approval letter. Showing a pre-approval letter to a seller will let the seller know that you are a serious buyer. Your local sales agent that you choose to work with can help you determine if your offer is a fair offer by giving you comparable properties that are close to your home that have sold in the last several months.
2. Make Your Offer
By doing the tasks in step one, you can now confidently make an offer. Remember that once your offer is accepted, it is a legally binding contract. Since it is not wise to back out of a contract, you want to consult with your realtor to make sure you are making the best decision. Once you feel you are ready, your real estate agent can present an offer to the seller in writing. When filling out the contract you will need to provide your real estate agent with your name, address, confirm the property address and purchase price, decide on how much earnest money you want to use, type of financing and if there are any other contingencies.
3. Negotiating and Counteroffering
A lot of times, especially during a sellers’ market, the seller might come back to you and not accept your first offer. When this happens the seller will send you a counteroffer on what they are willing to negotiate on. It is important that both parties are happy with the agreement, so it might take some time for your real estate agent to negotiate on your behalf. During this time, you will want to be flexible but also stay firm on the terms that are most important to you.
Remember it is important to make your offer as attractive as possible and your chosen sales agent will be able to handle this for you. During the process you need to remember to be flexible, because the more flexible you can be, the more attractive to the seller your offer becomes. Do not go overboard with contingencies but do balance it out to make sure you are firm with what is most important. Choosing a local real estate agent is the best way to find your dream home and win the bid.
