Preparing to write an offer | Monday Minute

You have been looking at homes and now you have finally found THE one!  It’s time to make an offer on the home.  So what does that look like?  In the states that we do business in, instead of having an attorney write up a unique contract for each deal, agents fill out forms written by the state real estate attorneys.  This makes things much simpler and makes the contract much easier to understand.  Let’s talk about the 5 main categories we will be filling out to make an offer.

1. Price.  How much are we going to offer on the property?  Depending on potentially other offers, are we offering above this price?  At this price?  It is over-priced?  This is a conversation to have with your agent on where to start your offer at.

2. Settlement Date.  When do you want to settle on the home?  Most contracts are an average of about 30 days.

3. Earnest Money Deposit.  This is a deposit amount towards your purchase.  On average this is 1% of the sales price, but depending on if there are multiple offers, you may want to increase this amount to be more competitive.

4. Financing.  What type of financing are you using?  You should at this point already have spoken with a lender at this point and have been pre-approved for a particular loan type.

5. Contingencies.  What factors will the contract be contingent on?  A Home inspection? Appraisal contingency?  Is there an HOA or Condo association to review?  

If you have any questions about writing an offer or would like to review the paperwork ahead of time, please reach out to us and we would be happy to help!