Making the Offer: Home Buying Advice

When buying a home, making an offer can be a high pressure situation. To reduce that stress and gain some clarity, today I’ll let you know how to make the offer that could help you close on your new home. After all, in a competitive housing market, you want to be at the top of your game.

The Contract

To begin, the contract establishes who the buyer is, who the sellers are, the property location and who the brokers are. Your real estate agent, which is highly recommended during the home buying process, will help clarify all these points. It will then go into the meat of the matter, the purchase price, down payment, loan amount and deposit.

Time limits are then set. One of these is for the response on the offer. Another is for obtaining financing. Then, one for closing on the home and moving in. All of these will have clear deadlines.

Now you may be wondering, what’s a good price on the offer? Also what terms should be included? Those are all very good questions to consider.

The Offer

When considering the amount to offer, you have to account for the popularity of the area and any potential competition. Generally, many sellers won’t go below 5% of the asking price. That said, there are exceptions.

You can look for indicators of a seller’s eagerness to close. One of these is the amount of time the house has been on market. Another, has the price already been reduced? If so, then they might be willing to go lower. Only your real estate agent will be able to help you consider these factors and negotiate.

The Terms

Almost as important as the price is the terms of the contract. These you should take time to consider. If you are offering full price or close to it, you should leverage that with getting terms that benefit you. Think asking the sellers to contribute to closing costs, you may want them to throw in a home warranty if something is to go wrong during escrow.

The more you learn about home buying, the clearer the process becomes. If you are looking to buy a home in the greater Encinitas, California area, I’d be happy to help you. Contact me by phone or through email. We can discuss the type of home you are looking for and establish a plan of action. I look forward to hearing from you.