Making An Offer
How do I make an offer on a new home?
Making an offer on a new home is not nearly as traumatic and scary as people might think. It's scary when you have to remove all your contingencies and solidify that deal. But putting the offer in, there's no guarantee the seller's going to accept your offer, especially if it's lower than what they're asking for, but that's the question. It's a matter of simply sitting down with your realtor, reducing to paper all the terms and conditions that you're comfortable with, and bouncing it into the other court.
How do I make a counter-offer on a new home?
Making a counter offer on a new home is a simple process. Counter-offers actually become part of the original agreement. For example, if you and I drafted an eight-page purchase agreement and we received a counter, well guess what? We now have a nine-page agreement and it goes on from there. But the counter-offers are really quite simple because in other words, if you think about it, you have eight pages of all terms and conditions. The counter-offer usually just has one, or two, or three. So counter-offers actually are easier than actually making the original offer.
Who negotiates for me in the home-buying process?
The person who negotiates for you in the home buying process is a function of your realtor. The realtor has to walk the fine line of being guidance, and counselor, and then messenger. So, you are negotiating and strategizing with your realtor and then ultimately giving the realtor his or her marching orders to go do battle for you.
Can I withdraw an offer I've made on a home?
When buying your home, I would certainly advise you to consult the advice and counsel of a real estate attorney if you want to withdraw an offer for a house that you have made. But, the short answer is that under certain conditions, yes there are ways to rescind your offer within a certain time frame. Again, this varies by state, and I do highly suggest that you do consult a legal advisor if you really do want to withdraw your offer on a house.
What should I do when there are multiple offers on the same house?
When it comes to buying a home, multiple offers on the same house are always a very, shall I say, stressful experience for home buyers. No one wants to feel like they're in a bidding war, but at the same time you don't want to sit back and let someone else just take your home. I would suggest what I call Zen, and the art of real estate; meaning you draft the offer that you are comfortable with for that house regardless of whatever else is out there. You place this offer on the table and fate and the universe will then take it from there.
What is "escrow"?
An escrow is a great source of confusion to homebuyers, because you hear the term a lot. There's the escrow company, the escrow period, the escrow officer, the escrow instructions. Basically, the escrow company is the neutral third party that basically acts as a traffic coordinator in the processing of an escrow. They issue something called escrow instructions, which is basically everything in the purchase agreement reduced to writing. There is the escrow officer which is the physical human body that you will be interacting with when processing your escrow. There's the escrow period, how long am I going to be in escrow before I own the home, 3 day escrow, 4 day escrow, so forth and so on.
Typically, how long is the escrow process?
When it comes to buying a home, the length of an escrow process varies. I have been involved in escrow periods as short as 17 days and as long as several months, depending on circumstance. But the vast majority of escrow processes in my experience are anywhere from 3 to 45 days.
What does an escrow agent do?
When buying a home, an escrow agent, licensed by the state is there to be the neutral third party. For example, what I mean is that if you as a buyer were to give a deposit directly to a seller and then God forbid there was some dispute arising in this transaction; it may not easy to recoup your deposit back from the seller. Whereas, if you're giving it to a neutral third party, the escrow agent/ company, your odds increase exponentially of getting that deposit for that house back.
