The Offer

The Offer– Compare Apples to Apples

The offer on your home is made up of price and conditions.  The conditions may influence your acceptance of an offer.  These conditions may effect your bottom line.  I can run a ‘net’ sheet to see how much money you will leave the table with.  Things to watch for:

  • Is personal property included in the offer, ie washer and dryer, your BBQ.  How much is this worth to you?  Will  it require you to purchase a new washer and dryer?
  • Is there a Home warranty included that they are asking you to pay for?
  • Are they asking you to pay any HOA fees
  • Are they asking for assistance in paying closing costs?
  • Is this a VA loan.  There are additional costs to the seller in a VA loan.
  • Are they asking you to do any additional repairs?

The conditions include close of escrow date.  Time is often an important variable.

I will guide you thru the paperwork and help you get the best deal possible.

What’s an acceptable offer?

The goal of every seller is to have a line of buyers outside the front door, each clutching higher and higher offers. Ahhh if this was always true my life would be easy. This has been known to happen, but in most markets there is some balance between the number of buyers and sellers. A number of factors determine whether a buyer’s offer is acceptable. They include:

  • Is the offer at or near the asking price? Is the offer above the asking price?
  •  Has the buyer then buried thousands of dollars in discounts and seller costs within tiny clauses and contract additions?
  • What is the alternative to the buyer’s offer? If a home has not attracted an offer in months, then sellers need to determine if a better deal is possible — recognizing that each month costs are being incurred for mortgage payments, taxes and insurance.
  • Does the owner have enough time to wait for other offers?
  • What if no other offers are received?
  • What if several offers are received? Do you choose the high offer from the purchaser with questionable finances who may not be able to close, or a somewhat lesser offer from a buyer with preapproved financing?

In each case, owners — with assistance from me — will need to carefully review offers, consider marketplace options and then determine whether an offer is acceptable.

What is a counter-offer?
When a home is made available for sale the owner is essentially making an offer to buyers: For a given number of dollars and other terms you can acquire this home. Buyers, in turn, can respond with several options:

  • Not interested.
  • Yes, we’ll buy on the owner’s terms.
  • We’re interested and here’s our counter-offer.