When you feel like you found the right house and are ready to pursue buying this home, you will have to follow through with writing an offer for it and submitting it to the seller of this home. When you do this, you will probably feel nervous and excited, and you might be wondering what to expect afterward. Here are four things you should expect after giving the seller your offer.
The Seller Will Need to Evaluate It
The instant you submit the offer, your agent will make sure the seller receives it. When this takes place, the seller will probably not automatically accept it. Instead, he or she will want to carefully read through every part of the offer. The point is to make sure the seller is willing to agree to everything on the offer. Keep in mind, your offer is more than just an amount. It may also have contingencies on it that the seller must evaluate.
You Should Hear Back in the Time Stated on the Offer
When you submit the offer, it will state on it how long it is good for. This might be two days, or it could be shorter or longer. In any case, if the seller does not respond within the time listed, the offer is void. You would need to start over if you wanted to pursue this house. That in mind, you should expect to hear back within the time stated on the offer. If you listed 48 hours, you should hear something back within this amount of time.
You Could Hear One of Several Answers
When you hear back, there are several different answers you might receive. One is an acceptance of your offer. This is the case if the seller likes your offer and agrees with it. A second response is a counteroffer, and sellers do this to make changes to original offers. The other response is a rejection of your offer, and this occurs when people make lowball or unreasonable offers.
You Might Have to Make Some Decisions
If you receive a rejection or counteroffer, you will then need to decide what to do. You could ignore it and find a different house to buy, or you could counter the counteroffer.
Submitting an offer is just the first step of negotiations for a house, but it is an important step. Make sure you talk this over with your real estate agent as you prepare to take this vital step. A local real estate brokerage service can help you with this process.