The Home Buying Process  >>  Overview  >>  How to Make an Offer

Tips for Making a Home Buying Offer

by Brandon Cornett

So you've weeded out all the "maybe" houses and found "the one." The next logical step is to make an offer on the home. Making a home buying offer (also known as the purchase offer) is a critical step in the home buying process and should be considered carefully.

This is when you put pen to paper and specify how much you're willing to pay for the home, and under what conditions you will buy (i.e. repairs requested, move-in date, etc.).

A written offer on a home usually includes the following:

  • Complete legal description of the property
  • Amount of earnest money
  • Down payment and financing details
  • Proposed move-in date and closing date
  • Price you are offering

Making a Smart Offer on the House

When calculating your offer for the home, you should consider several factors: what homes sell for in the area, the home's condition, how long it's been on the market, financing terms, and the seller's situation. By this time, you should also have a good idea how much you can afford to pay each month.

Work closely with your agent when making a purchase offer on the home. It’s a critical part of the process and not something you want to rush through or handle on your own.

On the other hand, if you’re in a hot real estate market where houses are selling fast, you’ll want to get your home buying offer to the seller as soon as possible. Your agent’s expertise will prove invaluable in such circumstances — he or she will help you put your offer together quickly and accurately!

Before making your purchase offer on a house, compare the house to recent sales in the area. Your agent should have this information readily available. If the seller’s asking price is above recent sale prices in the area, you should bid lower than their asking price, citing this difference as your reason.

Lastly, be prepared to negotiate and have a plan for doing so. What will you do if the seller turns down your initial purchase offer for the house? What happens if there are offers from multiple buyers and a bidding war develops? Consider these possibilities before making your initial home buying offer. Have a plan in place for each scenario.

And when in doubt, follow your agent’s advice!

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Brandon Cornett is the editor of HomeBuyingInstitute.com