Step 5 : Make an offer
I did tell you that buying a house was easy, but it's been all too easy so far, now we get into the offer & negotiating step, probably the most stressful part of the whole process.
First, the Basics. to submit an offer, you need
Pre -qualification letter
An amount you want to offer
A date you want to close on (30-60 days)
Do you want to ask for any other items i.e. refrigerator, washer, dryer.
Sign the offer, send it off and wait for response.
Seller counteroffers, you respond etc until you agree on price or the deal dies.
That's it. I could write a book on each of these steps, and but for the purposes of this guide, I'll just give you some tips from my 20 years of buying homes.
The Budget gets an Upgrade
Remember the budget you wrote with a sharpie from step 1 ? Ok, we're going give it the respect it deserves and upgrade it. Crumple up the post-it that it was written on, now go to your computer and print out that magic number on the largest font that will fit on one page and keep that page in front of you until a deal is reached.
While keeping your budget in mind, equally don't get stubborn, make your offer/counteroffers based on the house and its value, not on the behavior of the seller or the asking. This is a business deal and the seller is trying to get as much money for his/her house as possible. That is their job and they are fully entitled to do it. You are trying to pay as little as you can and that's your job.
Sometimes the asking price is the correct value and it’s ok to offer full price to snap it up before someone else does. Don’t negotiate just for the sake of it, you risk losing the house to someone else or creating a bidding war.
I've seen folks lose great deals (despite my best efforts) because they got mad at the seller.
Houses are like buses, there's always another one around the corner
The reason I feel so strongly about your budget is because houses are like buses, there's always another one around the corner. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen folks refuse to exceed the budget and are sad that they've missed out on their dream home, only to see a better home come on the market and they are so thankful for missing out on the first dream home. Happens all the time. ALL THE TIME.
Be Patient, it will save you thousands.
When you submit your offer, you can't wait to hear back. You're going to find yourself checking your phone every five minutes. It can take 4/8/24/48 hours to get a response.
There are many reasons for how long it takes a seller to respond, there might be multiple sellers to consult, the seller may be out looking at houses to buy or maybe, just maybe, the sellers are to try to 'ice' you.
Do not ask your realtor to call their realtor asking for the offer back...that reeks of desperation and any sensible seller will increase their counter offer once they hear that you have called.
Be patient, calm down, go for a walk, swim, run, whatever it takes you to stay calm. Being patient can save you thousands.
My goal with the points above is to prepare you so you can act like a seasoned buyer even if you're not. There are many many more things I could have included above and that I do teach all my clients before we even look at a house. That is where I really earn my money.
Continue to Step 6: Under Contract
Got questions ? Contact me darragh@empirecharleston.com or 843 452 2325