Making An Offer On A Home

Congratulations on making it to this part of the home purchasing process! You've found a home that you like and are ready to make a home offer on it. Before you put your offer in writing, make sure you understand what information you should, and should not, include in the home offer.

The first thing you should do is forget about the myths you've heard about making a home offer. Many people buyers believe that once they've put in an offer on a home, which they still have the liberty to shop around. While this is true, to some extent, it's in your best interest not to make any additional offers while you still have one on the table.

A home offer made on a piece of property is a legally binding contract. Should the buyer accept your offer, you are held to the offer.

There's another big reason why you shouldn't continue to shop around after you've made a home offer on a house. If you find a home you think you like more than the one you've made an offer on and the seller accepts your home offer, you are in an unfortunate situation. You will likely regret the decision to purchase the home for as long as you live in it.

Once you make a home offer, the seller can do one of several things: accept the offer, reject it, propose a counter offer, or fail to respond. If the seller does anything except accept the offer you still have the ability to continue home shopping.

When you're making an offer on a home there are several piece of information you need to include. The selling price is one of the most obvious. You don't have to offer the seller's asking price. You can go higher or lower as you so choose. Of course, the price you offer will depend on the amount you can afford to pay.

Your home offer should concessions that you wish for the seller to make. For example, if you want the seller to pay a portion of the closing costs, this information must be included in the offer.

You have the ability to stipulate that the home offer is contingent upon certain financing criteria. This keeps you from having to purchase the property if you do not receive favorable mortgage terms.

Don't leave out home inspection contingencies. Otherwise, you could end up purchasing a home that needs major work done to it. Your offer should include something to the effect of "subject to an acceptable whole house inspection report." Of course, if you are purchasing a fixer-upper, these contingencies might vary.

Don't make the assumption that everything you see in the house will be included when you make the final purchase. This includes appliances such as stoves and refrigerators. You must clearly define what is included in the sale.

Finally, you should include the amount of earnest money that you are depositing with the home offer.

Keep in mind that your offer can easily become the sales contract for your home if the seller accepts it. Make sure it includes everything you would want the sales contract to include.

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