Making an Offer to Buy a Home

Be realistic.

Be realistic when making an offer to buy a home. Some people detest having garage sales because they feel insulted when someone tries to talk them down on the prices they set.  It can be really hard to set out your personal items and have people insist on giving you a dime for something that you know is worth at least a dollar.  Now apply this principal to a person’s home, and you can understand the potential to really insult someone.  If a person is asking $150,000 on a home which is obviously worth that amount and you stroll in and offer $100,000 in addition to the seller paying your closing costs you are not only insulting the seller but you are making ridiculous demands.  Even if the seller is desperate to sell they would be completely justified in crumbling the bid up and throwing it back into your face.  In addition to the monetary bid, don’t get crazy with your other demands either.  The seller may have a nice car in the garage, which you admire, but adding it to your bid as part of the home sale is a delicate situation.  Be ready to make certain concessions if you ask for things like this.  It’s true that once in a while a home sale can include other things, but you can’t expect a seller to drop their asking price, pay for your closing costs, and toss in their heirloom furniture set to boot.  Try to be realistic when making an offer to buy a home.

Make an impressive earnest deposit.

An earnest deposit is a sort of down payment on a down payment…it’s the best way to show the sellers that you are serious about buying their home.  An earnest deposit does not need to be a great deal of money.  Many realtors will suggest an amount like $1000 or $1500 as a good earnest deposit.  This money is included when you submit the bid.  Although an earnest deposit isn’t required it certainly is a good idea; if you submit a bid with no earnest deposit and then someone else submits a bid with a $1000 check attached then whom do you think the sellers will go with?  Your earnest deposit is added to your down payment if the bid is accepted and you wind up purchasing the home, and if for some reason your bid is rejected then you do get the earnest deposit back.

Specify any additional items you would like included in the deal. 

You will be surprised to learn what movers can pack up and take away when the previous owners are leaving.  Curtain rods, shelving, and even entire swing sets will be gone when you move in if you don’t specify them as a condition of you purchasing the home.  These are the sorts of things you need to add to your bid.  If you fall in love with a house because the light fixtures in the dining room are divine then you really should stipulate that the light fixtures need to remain intact instead of the sellers taking them when they leave.  Interestingly enough, if you fall in love with something else in the house which has nothing to do with the home itself…dishes, a bookcase, or a mounted television set…these can be included with the bid as well.  Some homeowners are willing to give up these sorts of things to get the house sold.  There are rare instances of people including tractors, cars, and even small airplanes in their bids, and the sellers taking them up on it.  As long as the offer isn’t downright insulting (“please include all your children’s furniture, clothing, and toys in sale”) then it doesn’t hurt to ask.