We have written an
offer, now what happens?
By writing an offer
to purchase you have taken the most important step towards your goal of owning
property.
Here’s what happens to your offer once it’s written. I will
submit the offer to my broker. The broker will look it over to make sure
everything is complete. That all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed.
From there your offer is presented to the seller, and your earnest money is
deposited into the company’s trust account, as we discussed earlier. The seller
will look at and carefully consider your offer. The seller can accept the
offer, reject the offer, or counter the offer. So, let me explain all of these
options to you.
Rejection of an offer: The seller may reject your offer.
This is unusual and seldom happens. After all, like I have discussed, the
seller wants to sell. The main reasons an offer is rejected is the purchase
price is simply too low. The offer may have contingencies that the seller
cannot meet. Or that another offer is competing with yours, and the other offer
is more attractive to the seller.
The seller counters your offer: The seller has the option of
writing a counter offer back to the buyer. If this happens please realize that
a counter offer is a YES. There are simply a few things that need to be worked
out. The seller is saying that they want to work with you. Usually a counter
offer usually happens for a few reasons. They may counter the purchase price,
closing date, or perhaps the seller wants to eliminate or refine a contingency.
If this happens and the seller counters your offer, you have the same options
as the buyer had when the offer was first submitted to them.
The seller accepts your offer: The seller may accept your
offer as it was presented to him. When this happens, some people feel that if
their offer was accepted they offered to much, or that they made a bad deal.
This is far from the truth, and is certainly not the case. A good broker will
explain to the seller all the positive points and that accepting your offer is
in their best interest. If your offer is strong and fair, often times brokers
are able to point this out to the seller. After all there is a point where the
extra paperwork and time are not worth the few extra dollars a seller may gain
by countering your offer.
So, what does the buyer do while all of this is going on? While
the seller is looking over your offer you have some obligations also. If you
are financing this transaction, and have not taken the step to get
pre-approved, now is the time you should start the loan process stat. I am more
than happy to provide you with a list of lenders that are eager to assist you
with financing your investment. If you are an out of sate resident you should
be aware that some lenders from your state, will not borrow money for out state
purchases. An approval can be done in a couple of days from when the lender
receives all of your information. FYI, be prepared to be able to provide the
lender with employment and income information. Once the lender has approved
your loan they will notify you, at that time you will have to notify me so that
I can inform the seller your financing is approved.
The bank, the seller, and my office all have documents that
need to be prepared. Your title insurance policy has to be ordered and all of
the closing documents have to be prepared. This process can usually be finalized within a week’s time. Your job while all of this is getting done is
to simply sit back and relax. We’re taking care of everything for you. Now all
the hard work is completed, and the closing process is easy. Your lender will
have all of your loan papers ready for you to sign. You will be contacted with
where and when the closing will take place. You will also inform you of any
monies that need to be collected, make sure you have certified funds, and that
the check is made out to the same trust account that your earnest money was.
Don’t forget to bring your identification, as they may need that as well. The
good news is that at closing only a few forms need signing, along with the
sellers and the property is transferred to you. Remember I am always available
to answer any questions you may have during and after this whole process.
Congrats your dream
is now a reality!
Semper-Fi
Eric Ristey
Thanks for reading my
posts, check back for new articles. Until next time.