Now That You’ve Been Pre-approved...

Now we can start to look at homes. This is the most exciting part of the home buying process. The arduous process of trying to get pre-approved is over, and you can actually begin to think about buying a home of your own. Here’s what will happen.

• Find the Right Home for You

  I’ll find all the properties that meet your specifications and email web photos to you, or I can fax or call you with a description of them. You choose which ones you’d like to see and call me with the MLS number. I’ll set up appointments for private showings at your convenience, and we’ll go look at them. This process is designed to rule out homes until you find one you like.

• Pricing It Right

  When you find the home you want to purchase, you’ll know it! After you’ve looked it over thoroughly and decided this is the one for you, we’ll talk about making an offer. But before we get to that point, I’ll do a detailed comparative market analysis to show us whether the asking price is comparable to similar recently sold homes in the neighborhood. And that will be our starting point for the price you’ll want to offer. Remember, an asking price is just that, what the seller is asking — not necessarily what it’s worth.

• Writing the Contract

  An offer is made on a real estate form called “Residential Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate.” Take a look. I know you'll have questions, and we'll address them all when the time comes to write your offer. This is the basic contract form. Here we’ll list the price you want to pay, all the things you want included in the sale such as appliances, ceiling fans, special light fixtures, and so on. The seller wants to know that you're financially able to buy the property. There's a place for that. We’ll indicate the date by which you’ll tell the seller the results of the inspection (see From Contract To Closing for information about the inspection), and the date by which any inspection matters have to be resolved between you and the seller. We‘ll set other dates, such as when the seller has to provide the title commitment, and many other details. We’ll indicate the additional provisions you’re asking from the seller, such as paying some or all of the closing costs. We’ll set a date on which the sale will close. And, we’ll give the seller a deadline by which he or she must respond to your offer, usually within 12 to 24 hours.

• Making the Offer

  After calling the listing agent and notifying him/her that an offer is forthcoming, and asking what I might need to know about the seller, such as “Are there any unrecorded owners?” and/or “Are there any special instructions, such as a predetermined closing date,” and/or “How much time do you need to respond?” I’ll prepare the offer on my computer for your signature. When it’s ready to sign, you’ll write a check to accompany the offer, usually for $1,000-$5,000, depending on the price of the home (called “earnest money”), made out to the listing agent or his/her title company, and sign the offer. When all this is completed, I’ll fax a copy of the offer and the check to the listing agent. We wait. Some agents are slow to respond. For them the acceptance deadline is just an approximation. Shortly before the deadline has expired, I’ll call the listing agent to ask if they intend to respond. If not, the offer lapses, and it’s on to your second choice. If they do intend to respond, but need more time, I’ll call you to ask your agreement to go beyond the acceptance deadline. Then we wait.

• Acceptance of Offer vs. Counter Offer

  Sometimes a seller will make a counter offer, which means that they accept some of your offer, but not all. They may want to change the selling price, they may want to change dates, they may want to exclude something you’ve asked for, say an heirloom light fixture they want to keep. Should a counter offer be made, the other agent will usually call and tell me that one is coming, and sometimes what the new terms are. The seller will have put an acceptance deadline on the counter offer, and you’ll need to respond by that deadline. If you do, we have a contract. If not, it’s on to your second choice. Or, you can make a new offer. Sometimes the offer—counter offer process can go on through several stages.

• Congratulations! Now the purchase of your new home is in sight!

  Once the offer (or counter offer) is signed, there are new things to think about. See From Contract to Closing for the next step in the home buying process.

If you have questions at any time during the home buying process, or if you need to get in touch with me, please feel free to call me on my direct line at (303) 587-3509, or email me at judith@buyers-advantage.net.