Make the Offer!

Hunting for that next property is a lot of fun! Looking at houses and finding the perfect house may seem like it's the most important piece but the real action starts when you start making offers.

Making an offer to buy a home isn't as complicated as it sounds and is not something that can never be taken back. It's actually really simple and standard real estate contracts have lots of contingencies that protect you from making a bad purchase.

All you need to make an offer is to know what price you want to offer and then a few simple contract terms. This doesn't have to be the price the seller is asking or even anywhere close to it. A property could be listed for $500,000 and you can offer $400,000, that's ok and can be fun to do! It doesn't mean that your offer will be accepted but most sellers would rather have an offer than not. So just to recap all you need to make an offer in Texas is:

• Price
• Closing Date (check with the lender here)
• Option period length (unrestricted right to terminate the contract, usually between 3-10 days)
• Option fee amount (price you pay for the option period)
• Earnest Money Amount 
• Pre approval from a lender or proof of funds if you're making a cash offer
• We highly recommend you write a cover letter to go with any offer

There are other pieces of a standard real estate contract but these are the big rocks. As long as you get these together and your agent can help with this, then you're ready to make an offer!

On our team we commonly tell buyers that the process will take between 3-6 months and somewhere in the range of 3-10 offers before you close on a property. It might be quicker with less offers and it could take longer with more offers, this is just the average of what we see. So get out there, start looking at houses and make some offers! Remember, these offers don't need to be the advertised price and can be whatever you want to offer.

Reach out to an attorney for legal advice on any contracts or contract terms you have any questions on. The Moorhead Team is a team of licensed Realtors and this is by no means legal advice.