Step 6: Make an Offer

So what's a fair price for the home you love?

You have found the home you love. Now you need to make a compelling offer. Your offer is the first step toward negotiating a sales contract with the seller. Since this is just the beginning of negotiations, you should put yourself in the seller’s shoes and imagine his or her reaction to everything you include. Your goal is to get what you want, and imagining the seller’s reactions will help you attain that goal. There are three basic components of your purchase offer are Price, Terms and Contingencies:

  • Price- the dollar amount you are approved for, willing and able to pay.
  • Terms- cover the other financial and timing factors that will be included in your offer
  • Contingencies- are clauses that let you out of the deal if problems or deficiencies are found, they specify any event that will need to take place in order for you to fulfill the contract.

Buying a home is a major event for both the buyer and seller. It will affect your finances more than any other previous purchase or investment.

The seller makes plans based on your offer that affect his finances, too. However, it is more important than just money. In the half-hour it takes to write an offer you are making decisions that affect how you live for the next several years, if not the rest of your life. The seller is going to review your offer carefully, because it also affects how he or she lives the rest of their life.

Okay, it can get admittedly confusing here. So look to us to guide you and represent your interest at every step of the way. Keep in mind, the right price to offer should reflect the fair market value of the home you want to buy. Our market research will help guide you on what is a fair price to offer to obtain best sales price for you.

Prior to making the offer we will research:

  • Current Market conditions
    • Buyers or Sellers market?
    • Are we in a multiple offer situation?
    • Are rates fluctuating?
  • Average sales price of comparable properties in the area
  • Average cumulative days on market
  • List to sales price ratio (how much on average sellers are coming off of price)
  • Seller Motivation
  • Improvements the sellers have made since they have owned the property
  • What the seller paid for the home and when