Writing an Offer to Purchase Real Estate
Once you find the home you want to buy, the next step is to write an offer which is not as easy as it sounds. 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 sellers shoes and imagine his or her reaction to everything you include. Your goal is to get what you want, and imagining the sellers reactions will help you attain that goal.
The offer is much more complicated than simply coming up with a price and saying, "This is what Ill pay." Because of the large dollar amounts involved, especially in todays litigious society, both you and the seller want to build in protections and contingencies to protect your investment and limit your risk.
In an offer to purchase real estate, you include not only the price you are willing to pay, but other details of the purchase as well. This includes how you intend to finance the home, your down payment, who pays what closing costs, what inspections are performed, timetables, whether personal property is included in the purchase, terms of cancellation, any repairs you want performed, which professional services will be used, when you get physical possession of the property, and how to settle disputes should they occur.
It is certainly more involved than buying a car. And more important.
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.
That sounds dramatic and every real estate book or article you read says the same thing. Well they all say it because it is true.
Next Contingencies in a Purchase Offer
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| Benefits of Owning Your Own Home |
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| Important Things To Avoid Before Buying a Home |
| Don't Buy a Car - or Did You Already Buy One? |
| The Business Cycle and Buying a Home |
| Comparable Sales and Your Offer Price |
| Major Factors Influencing your Offer Price |
| Offering to Purchase Real Estate- the Basics |
| Writing an Offer - Safeguards Regarding the Property |
| How Financing Details Affect Your Offer |
| How FHA and VA Financing Affects Your Offer |
| Selecting Service Providers |
