Knowing How to Make an Offer – So you’ve been shopping for a home, and you’ve probably looked at so many that you can’t wait to get it over with. You think you’ve found the one, but you’re unsure, so what do you do? This is where things get complicated, and making a home offer can be scary. What happens if you lowball them and someone else gets the home? What happens if you pay too much?
Knowing How to Make an Offer
These are legitimate questions, so let’s try to work through them one at a time.
1. Is this the right time?
Before making an offer, you must ensure this is your desired home. Most home buyers say they know it when they see it but try to be as rational as possible. From there, ask your Realtor to perform comps to see what they think the home is worth. Usually, the house will be listed for more than it’s worth, but that doesn’t mean you can lowball the offer.
2. Are you pre-approved?
You will probably need to fax a pre-approval letter with your offer to prove you’re serious. If the request is accepted, you’ll also need to pay a small fee, generally called an escrow, which might be as much as 10-15% of your offer. This is something you need to have ready to go.
3. Is the home in obvious disrepair?
When making an offer on a home needing repairs or modifications, append these requests to your submission. Generally, it’s better to ask for too much and get rejected than pay too much and miss out on a good deal. Depending on your area, you can negotiate closing costs, repairs, furnishings, home warranties, and even allowances for future maintenance.
4. Inspections
Make sure that your offer is contingent upon inspection. Otherwise, you risk being misled or stuck with a repair bill after the deal.
5. Offer price
This is your money, and it’s a lot of it, so don’t be afraid to lowball the seller if you think they are asking too much. That being said, be wise, and put yourself in their shoes. Maybe they have a lot of offers, and you’ll have to raise yours to get the seller’s attention. Also, perhaps they aren’t motivated and will only accept submissions in their price range. These are things you can’t necessarily know beforehand, but they are worth considering. read
Refinance a Home Mortgage With These Easy Steps
If you’ve worked through these five steps, you should be prepared to make an offer, but before you do, use our free mortgage calculator & mortgage quotes tool to double-check your numbers. Using the mortgage calculator, you can ensure that your offer is at a price you can afford. You will also get free access to a list of local mortgage lenders, where you will be eligible for five free mortgage quotes. If you aren’t sure you have the right deal, then it’s wise to double-check and make sure, especially with so much money at stake.
