In today’s housing market we need to put your offer in asap; ideally within a few hours. Before we can put an offer in on a home, there are a few things we need you to email to us:
Buyer's Representation or Facilitation Agreement with full legal name(s): Most buyers complete this soon after they meet their agent but sometimes things are moving quickly and this is done at the time of writing your first offer.
Offer price: We will consider if there are other offers on the table. We will have a discussion about the sale to list price ratios in the neighborhood and sales price trends. These factors will tell you a lot about whether you should expect to pay below asking price, asking price, or above asking price based on today’s market.
If we are in multiple offers and need to present our "Highest and Best" we will review what your "walk away price" might be. We need you to decide now how much you’re willing to pay for this property and what your walk away price is before thing get heated and emotional.
Closing cost credits: Do you want to ask for the seller to pay for your closing costs/expenses? Closing cost fees are expenses you have to pay for on top of your down payment. We will discuss how this affects your net offer to the seller.
Closing date: Typically in the Twin Cities, closing takes place 30-60 days from contract acceptance. The faster you get through contingencies and respond to lender requests, the faster we get to closing. If you’re paying 100% cash you can often close faster than 30 days (around 15 days), but 45 days is usually the required minimum by most mortgage companies to buy the property.
Earnest money: How much earnest money are you comfortable putting down on this property? Typically, contracts in the Twin Cities include approx 1% of the purchase price as earnest money. This earnest money is due in two payments. Generally the EM payment is due with the offer unless otherwise specified in the contract.The earnest money is part of your down payment. Therefore, if you’re planning to put $40,000 down for a down payment and you’re paying $5,000 in earnest money then at closing you would owe an additional $35,000 for the remainder of the down payment plus your closing costs.
Down payment: For the contract, we need to know how much you’re going to put down for your down payment and the types of financing you are using.
Home warranty: Do you want to ask the seller to provide a home warranty on the property or buy one yourself?
Home Inspection: Unless you waive your right to an inspection, we will include an inspection contingency so you can hire a professional home inspector. Read: For Your Protection Get a Home Inspection
Contingencies: Any other contingencies we need to be aware of? Do you need to sell your current home before we can buy this home?
Lastly, buyers sometimes want to know what happens if the contract is accepted and they have a change of heart or the inspection reveals a huge problem. Read here for information on getting out of a signed contract.
Want to review the contract in advance so you have time to think about some terms? Call me and we can schedule a time to review. If you haven't purchased a home since last August, the contract options may have changed.
Once we’ve talked through the above and you’ve emailed us your answers, we’ll write the contract and have you sign it via a program called Authentisign. Click here to watch a video on signing documents electronically via Authentisign. We’ll then submit it to the seller’s agent. While negotiations sometimes go quickly, be prepared that it could take 24 – 72 hours to negotiate the purchase price if the seller is out of town, wants to sleep on the offer for a night, if we’re dealing with a bank, etc. Every seller is different and some people can make decisions quickly whereas others need time to think things through. Patience is now the name of the game once an offer has been submitted!
Buyer's Representation or Facilitation Agreement with full legal name(s): Most buyers complete this soon after they meet their agent but sometimes things are moving quickly and this is done at the time of writing your first offer.
Offer price: We will consider if there are other offers on the table. We will have a discussion about the sale to list price ratios in the neighborhood and sales price trends. These factors will tell you a lot about whether you should expect to pay below asking price, asking price, or above asking price based on today’s market.
If we are in multiple offers and need to present our "Highest and Best" we will review what your "walk away price" might be. We need you to decide now how much you’re willing to pay for this property and what your walk away price is before thing get heated and emotional.
Closing cost credits: Do you want to ask for the seller to pay for your closing costs/expenses? Closing cost fees are expenses you have to pay for on top of your down payment. We will discuss how this affects your net offer to the seller.
Closing date: Typically in the Twin Cities, closing takes place 30-60 days from contract acceptance. The faster you get through contingencies and respond to lender requests, the faster we get to closing. If you’re paying 100% cash you can often close faster than 30 days (around 15 days), but 45 days is usually the required minimum by most mortgage companies to buy the property.
Earnest money: How much earnest money are you comfortable putting down on this property? Typically, contracts in the Twin Cities include approx 1% of the purchase price as earnest money. This earnest money is due in two payments. Generally the EM payment is due with the offer unless otherwise specified in the contract.The earnest money is part of your down payment. Therefore, if you’re planning to put $40,000 down for a down payment and you’re paying $5,000 in earnest money then at closing you would owe an additional $35,000 for the remainder of the down payment plus your closing costs.
Down payment: For the contract, we need to know how much you’re going to put down for your down payment and the types of financing you are using.
Home warranty: Do you want to ask the seller to provide a home warranty on the property or buy one yourself?
Home Inspection: Unless you waive your right to an inspection, we will include an inspection contingency so you can hire a professional home inspector. Read: For Your Protection Get a Home Inspection
Contingencies: Any other contingencies we need to be aware of? Do you need to sell your current home before we can buy this home?
Lastly, buyers sometimes want to know what happens if the contract is accepted and they have a change of heart or the inspection reveals a huge problem. Read here for information on getting out of a signed contract.
Want to review the contract in advance so you have time to think about some terms? Call me and we can schedule a time to review. If you haven't purchased a home since last August, the contract options may have changed.
Once we’ve talked through the above and you’ve emailed us your answers, we’ll write the contract and have you sign it via a program called Authentisign. Click here to watch a video on signing documents electronically via Authentisign. We’ll then submit it to the seller’s agent. While negotiations sometimes go quickly, be prepared that it could take 24 – 72 hours to negotiate the purchase price if the seller is out of town, wants to sleep on the offer for a night, if we’re dealing with a bank, etc. Every seller is different and some people can make decisions quickly whereas others need time to think things through. Patience is now the name of the game once an offer has been submitted!
