Writing the Offer to Buy a House

Buyers make offers to sellers in writing on standard contracts that are developed by local Realtors and their Contract and Clause Committees and reviewed by the Realtors’ attorneys. In our area, the Realtor’s contract is relatively balanced and does not overly lean to the benefit of either buyers or sellers.  Most of the contract is made up of required disclosures and standard contract legalese. The legalese is not insignificant and buyers should read and understand it.

Buyers fill in the blanks on the contracts with the details of their offers. In the blank spaces include, among other things:

• The prices being offered,
• The amount of the earnest money deposits,
• The dates buyers wish to close on the sales,
• The amounts of the down payment,
• The amounts of the mortgages buyers intend to obtain,
• The types and terms of these mortgages and the dates they are expected to be committed,
• Structural and environmental inspections.

The above items are basic. Buyers can add anything to their offers that fits their needs. Unless offers are exactly what sellers ask for, anything offered is negotiable.

As soon as possible offers are taken to sellers who can accept, reject, or counter them. Most offers are countered on one or more issues. An issue can be as minor as changing the settlement date by a day or two. Or, it can be major such as significantly changing buyers’ offering prices to a higher figure. Then offers come back to the buyers who must decide whether to accept, reject, or counter the counter offers.

Our Realtor’s contract is written so that buyers do not loose their good faith deposits if they are turned down for loans, or if inspections turn out to be unsatisfactory.

Once buyers and sellers agree to everything, the offers become binding contracts - and there is no turning back. There is no 3-day grace period as with some consumer purchases. The only “out” is if the contingencies, such as loan and inspection contingencies, are not satisfied.

At this point, buyers are on their way to buying the houses they chose.