What do you do once you have an offer? First, I will explain to you what the buyer is offering. An offer will contain the offer price and terms of the offer, these terms may affect the bottom line price to you. You may like the price but not the terms, then a counter will be drawn up to address that concern. This countering could go back and forth until both parties agree on all terms. A seller may accept another offer while countering with a different party. Once a seller and a buyer agree, sign and this agreement has been delivered it becomes a legally binding contract.
You do not want to get involved in oral offers or negotiations. If you verbally accept an offer, the buyer is still free of any legal obligation to actually buy the house and he may try to keep bargaining with you to see how low you’ll go on the price.
Sometimes, no matter how carefully you’ve prepared your house and how fairly you’ve priced it, you might still get a low offer. Don’t take it personally. It is just business and you are free to accept, counter or reject the offer.
Upon agreement, the buyer usually has a limited contingency period in which they can have a home inspection or any other inspection they want to pay for. At this point, the buyer can still withdraw from the agreement if problems are found or they might ask for repairs, price reduction or for you to contribute a sum of money toward repairs at closing. Whatever the situation, I will help you negotiate a this turbulence. After the contingency period has expired, I will request the buyer sign a removal of all contingencies, it is at this time, the buyer is firmly on board with the fulfillment of the agreement or their earnest money could be lost to you the seller if the buyer cannot perform his side of the transaction after signing off on all contingencies. I will be in contact with the buyer’s agent and their lender to make sure all is systems are running smoothly.
