BNI Growth Partners Power Team
Guide To
Home Purchasing
Step 2 - The Offer and Counter
Offer
What to expect during the offer process?
Even though you do not have a contract, as of yet, you may want to discuss the
property you are looking at with a real estate transaction lawyer. Your lawyer
can be used as your trusted advisor, and help you decide things to discuss
upfront or to consider while you are making your offer. Things he/she may inform
you of overall closing costs, so you can be sure to consider this while you are
making an offer, it may effect the amount you can deposit.
You certainly want to have your lawyer
in place before the offer, as once it is accepted, you will need to have him/her
review it right away, your real estate agent will get a copy to your lawyer as
soon as the offer is accepted.
Relevant BNI Growth Partners Real
Estate Power Team Members Are:
Real Estate Transaction Lawyer,
Real Estate Agent
The Offer Process:
Your real estate agent will help you
with this process. He/she should provide you with comparative market analysis of
the property so you have a good idea of what similar properties have sold for
and what has not sold. If the seller has filled out a Seller’s Disclosure about
the property, your agent should get that and other important pre-sale documents,
such as a lead disclosure if required.
In general, your offer is presented with
the following documents/items:
- A good faith deposit is recommended
but is not required. In general a nominal amount of $1,000 is written to
your/their lawyers trust account. If the offer is not accepted, the deposit
is fully refunded.
- Your mortgage pre-approval, which
should indicate that a bank/mortgage company has reviewed your finances and
says you will be able to obtain a mortgage for a said amount if everything
stays the same through closing. Things that could change is if you lose your
job or you take out another loan since the mortgage pre-approval process was done.
- A written contract which contains
the mortgage amount, the amount of your deposit to be put down once attorney
review has concluded, the offer price, what you expect to be included in the
property and what is known to be excluded and proposed closing date.
Your Real Estate Agent will now present
your offer for you to seller or the listing agent. Once it is presented, expect
within a day or so one of the following (not an exhaustive list):
- Your offer is accepted
- Your offer may be refused outright
- You will be presented a counter
offer
- The seller may accept another offer
that was on the table already
- The seller may decide to remove the
listing and not sell at this time
Usually there is a counter
offer, and your Real Estate Agent will work with you to counter their offer,
withdraw your offer or accept their counter.
Once you and the seller have agreed upon a
price and other set of terms, all parties sign the contract and initial the
changes, both parties get an original or copy (if faxed, etc...) of the executed
contract and the contract is now in attorney review stage. Your Real Estate
Agent will get the executed contract to your lawyer for him/her to start the
review process.
