The Offer

Your REALTOR® will contact you promptly whenever an offer for your property is received. The REALTOR® will examine the offer, go over it with you completely, and answer any questions you may have. This written offer is important because it sets the terms of the agreement and will become the binding contract for sale if you sign it. The offer states the price the buyer is willing to pay, terms and contingencies, such as arranging a loan or qualifying to assume yourloan.

There may be other contingencies in the offer such as the buyer selling their home first, or obtaining an inspection. Your REALTOR® will discuss with you how these terms affect you and whether the offer is reasonable and in line with market value. The offer will also include:

• the legal description of the property,
• any property that ownership will be transferred with the property, such as: curtains, appliances, etc.
• the total earnest money the buyer will deposit in escrow,
• it will identify the escrow agent and title company
• the proration of insurance, taxes, and interest,
• fees accrued and who pays for which fees,
• rights to inspect the property, for repairs to be made and time limits on these repairs
• dates of closing and possession, (when you hand over the keys)
• what happens in the event either party defaults on this contract.

The buyer may place "earnest money" with the escrow agent as a good faith gesture. The earnest money will be kept in the escrow account and and used as all or part of the buyer's down payment or closing costs at time of closing.

What are your options?

Your have three options to exercise, accept, reject, or make your counteroffer. A counteroffer is an offer from you to the buyer. You have rejected his offer and offered terms and/or pricing that you are now willing to accept. If you choose to counteroffer, carefully examine the figures compiled used to determine your net proceeds. Because the terms and estimated closing costs may changed from original expectations, you will need to discuss the options with your REALTOR® or perhaps an attorney and/or a tax adviser.

If the offer was low?

Many times a buyer's first offer does not always reflect the what the buyer's is willing to pay for your property. the buyer has there are three things to accomplish in making the original offer:

• buy the property for the lowest possible price.
• get the best possible terms.
• to see how motivated the seller is. Sometimes real estate needs to be sold quickly to settle a divorce, an inheritance or to protect the sellers credit.

All of these things are reasons for making a low first offer. And usually if the seller rejects the offer, the buyer can always make a higher bid. Sometimes, the listing price is not what the seller is really willing to take. When you first decided on the price for you property, you had a price in mind you could live with if need be.

What happens now?

The prospective buyer may accept, reject or counteroffer your counteroffer. This may continue until you and the buyer agree on the terms and sign the contract or one of you walks away. A lot will depend on market conditions and the motivation and desire of both the buyer and seller. Throughout the process, an active and knowledgeable REALTOR® will be a great help.

Rick Lockwood, Realtor®
(512) 635-2691  Email