How To Submit an Offer on a House 

Today we are exploring the steps leading up to submitting a purchase contract on your dream house.

As a person who is brand new to real estate, the purchase contract can seem intimidating. Don’t worry because you going to be introduced to this topic many times before you have to fill one in for a client. Your real estate courses should introduce the purchase contract and many of its terms and uses. Then, when you sign up with a broker, make sure they have ample training. The broker should have their new agents practicing writing one while looking at examples. You want to feel comfortable with each section so that when you are explaining it to a client you can do it with ease. The goal is to educate them in a way where they don’t feel overwhelmed but also know what they are signing. I am going to go over each part of the purchase contract in simple terms.

You can use these blogs as a cheat sheet before you explain the terms and clauses to clients. Share this with your clients before you write a purchase contract so they can be semi-familiar with the terms already. 

What is a purchase agreement? In real estate, a purchase agreement is a binding contract between a buyer and a seller that outlines the details of a home sale transaction. The buyer will propose the conditions of the contract, including their offer price, closing date, etc. The seller will then have time to either agree to terms, reject terms, or negotiate terms. 

What happens before you submit an offer:

1. Meet your real estate agent 
2. Meet your loan officer
3. Get a pre-approval letter
4. See houses within your price range

Contact your loan officer and ask about:

• Estimated monthly payments
• Estimated closing costs
• Taxes
• FHA/Conventional Loan

Before beginning writing an offer, you should:

• Call the listing agent 
• Ask if there is anything else you need to know about the property that is not in the MLS
• Ask if there are any other offers on the property 
• Ask if they have a set time review offers
• Ask if the house is going to pass FHA Inspections or if they need a Conventional buyer
• Communicate with your buyers
• Have their loan officers contact ask:
• If they are going FHA/Conventional 
• What interest rate on they going with? Fixed or prevailing rates?
• How much are they putting down?
• Obtain pre-approval letter 
• Talk to your clients about specific points in the contract:
• Earnest
• Mention Home Warranty 
• Inspection Clause 
• Appraisal Clause
• Closing costs