You’ve found the home you’ve been searching for and now it’s time to make your offer. What’s your next step and who’s going to guide you through the process?
When you’re ready to make an offer, your real estate agent will take center stage, communicating closely with the seller’s agent and you. Here’s the steps they’ll walk you through:
Step 1: Determining Your Price
Your real estate agent will help you determine a price that’s fair, based on their experience and important considerations, including:
Consider talking to a Housing Counselor to determine what you can afford.
Step 2: Submitting an Offer
Once you’ve determined your price, your agent will draw up an offer, or purchase agreement, to submit to the seller’s real estate agent. This offer will include your agreed upon purchase price and terms and conditions of the purchase, including:
- Your target closing date
- Provisions for certain fees
- A deadline for the seller to accept or counter your offer, typically one to two days
Tip: When writing your offer, it’s highly recommended that you make the home purchase contingent on the home inspection and appraisal.
Step 3: Negotiating the Offer
Oftentimes, the seller will counter your offer, typically asking for a higher purchase price or to move the closing date. In these cases, the seller’s agent will submit a counteroffer to your agent, detailing their desired changes. At this time, you can either accept the offer or decide if you want to counter.
Each time changes are made through a counteroffer, you or the seller have the option to accept, reject or counter it again.
Step 4: Finalizing the Offer
The contract is considered final when both parties agree to all terms and sign the written offer.
What’s next? You’ll need to provide your lender with a copy of the signed purchase agreement to finalize the loan application process. As always, lean on your team for any questions or concerns along the way – it’s their job and they’re there to help.
Learn more about the homebuying timeline, from soup to nuts.
Follow this series to learn what to expect about other important topics and visit My Home by Freddie MacSM where we discuss it all.
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