How To Make An Offer

Making an offer to purchase

Buying a home is exciting. It means stability, financial security, and peace of mind for the future. It’s a place where you expect to raise your family and spend many years enjoying your surroundings. Finding the right home is truly rewarding after all the time spent looking with your REALTOR®. Now it’s time to make an offer!

I have the training and experience to present a strong offer on your behalf; with protections in the form of escape clauses or guarantees that must be honored by the seller. It may be comforting to know that I have an Errors & Omissions policy to protects you and your investment at each step in the transaction.

This is an overview of the offer procedure that REALTORS® use as a standard of business.

Major sections

• Offer to Purchase: A legally binding document which specifies the terms and conditions of your offer to purchase the home. If it’s accepted without a counter offer, the due diligence process starts and you may have bought a home!
• Conditions: These almost always include “subject to home inspection”, “subject to obtaining financing”, or “subject to you selling your property”
• Price: Depending on local market conditions, price may be negotiated higher or lower to satisfy by parties.
• Deposit: Shows the buyer’s good faith and is held in trust to be applied to the purchase. I will advise you on an appropriate amount.
• Inclusions and Exclusions: Appliances and certain fixtures or decorative items such as window coverings or mirrors may be requested or offered.
• Closing or Possession Date: Generally, this is the day both the title of the property is legally transferred, and the transaction of funds is finalized. In British Columbia, the Possession Date is legally one to three days after closing. Note: The closing date is adjustable. Both the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent will make every possible effort to ensure the closing date accommodates the needs of both parties.

Your terms in writing

When it comes time to make an offer on a home, I will guide you and provide current market information. Here are some of the steps we follow during this process:

• I will communicate your intent to buy to the seller on your behalf and negotiate changes to the offer. When there is an offer on the table, I am working full-time on your behalf.
• A Conditional Offer to Purchase means that you’ve placed one or more conditions on the purchase; the home is not sold until all of the conditions have been met, such as inspections and confirmation of financing.
• There may be more than one offer on a property coming in at the same time—don’t panic—I’ll happily guide you through the process and advise you when it’s time to increase an offer or walk away.

Acceptance or counter-offer:

The seller may accept your offer, reject it, or submit a counter-offer. The counter-offer may be in reference to the price, the closing date, or any number of variables. The offers can go back and forth until both parties have agreed or one of you ends the negotiation.

Communicating and negotiating price on a home can be a nerve-racking time for buyers. Here at Rockies West Realty, we know this, and work hard to ensure the process is as streamlined as possible. And when it’s all over, you’ll be a homeowner—congratulations!

Contact me to discuss your next transaction. Helping You Is What I Do.