Home Buying - Making an Offer

Making an Offer

Before you make offers on the homes that you want to buy you should make sure that all of your ducks are in a row. First, check your credit report to make sure that there aren't any "surprises". Then, contact a mortgage broker or lender to sumbit an application. If you are preapproved for a home loan then you will have some added leverage when making an offer.

Normally, when it comes time to make an offer you do this through a real estate agent. The real estate agent will usually have been told from the seller, the least amount to accept. When an offer is made within an acceptable price, the real estate agent will put this in writing and pass it onto the seller.

It is normal practice that the property will be taken off the market as soon as the offer is accepted. If you have made an offer, its likely that others will have made an offer too. Also, you may not necessarily be told what the other offers are. If you decide to then offer over the asking price, then use the survey results to consider if the property is actually worth it, and if you really want to put in a higher offer. An accepted offer is not final until the contracts have been exchanged.