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March
6
6
Buyers: What Comes After an Offer
Are you getting ready to buy your first home? Browsing Arden Hills homes for sale is exciting, but buying one can seem both exhilarating and scary. If you choose a good real estate agent, of course, you'll have their guidance throughout the entire process, but here is a quick rundown of what to expect after you make an offer.
- The seller responds.
The seller can respond to your offer in three ways: They can accept it as is, counter it, or decline it. Usually, a seller will only decline if they received several offers and chose another one over yours or if your offer was so low as not to be worth countering. Either way, it means you'll need to keep looking. More commonly, the seller will accept your offer or respond with a counteroffer. The seller's counteroffer might increase the price a little, or they might counter with other terms that would be more favorable to them. - If a counteroffer is received, you'll need to make a decision.
If the seller responds with a counteroffer, you'll need to review the new offer with your agent and decide whether you want to accept the offer or counter back. Receiving a counteroffer isn't a bad place to be, as it means the seller would like to sell to you, even though your initial offer wasn't quite what they wanted. If you're not satisfied with the counteroffer, you could either counter back or decline and continue looking at other Alexandria homes for sale. - Get an inspection.
Once an offer or counteroffer has been accepted, you'll sign a contract agreeing to buy the home unless the inspection reveals issues or financing falls through. The inspection will be your responsibility to get, although your real estate agent will most likely suggest an inspector and help set that up. The inspector will carefully look over the home, watching for issues that require an expert's assessment. Since certain issues may impact the home's value or viability, most contracts allow you to back out based on the inspection's findings. - Get an appraisal and secure funding.
Even if you have been pre-approved for a home loan, you must use this time before closing to secure funding. Once the home inspection is done, your lender will want an appraisal done. The appraisal will ensure the home is worth the total you're borrowing to buy it. If the appraisal doesn't come back high enough, financing will not be secured, letting you out of the contract. In that case, you'll either need to negotiate a new price with the seller or look for a different home to purchase. - Go to closing.
Assuming the home passes both the inspection and the appraisal, the next step will be to go to closing. Closing is usually set at about 30 days out to allow time to do the inspection, appraisal and any work that needs to be done before the house is sold. Closing is now sometimes done online, but either way, you'll have a lot of paperwork to sign before you're done.
If it's your first time buying a home, it's natural to feel a little overwhelmed by the process, but hopefully, being able to ask questions about what to expect will set your mind at ease. If you have more questions about how to buy a home, call today to get started.