How to Write An Offer That Will Be Accepted
Making an offer on your Lake Charles home is the next step of the home purchase process.
As a Lake Charles Home Buyer, you want to make sure your offer is attractive to the Lake Charles Home Seller and will be accepted. When you have finally found the house of your dreams and the Lake Charles Home for Sale is priced right, the home is sure to receive attention from other buyers. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to submit an offer! Assuming you are pre-approved with a lender to obtain a home loan or you are paying cash, it’s time to get started with the financial and contract part of the purchase.
As your Lake Charles REALTOR® I will guide you through this process and work closely with your lender.
The reason some contracts may never reach the closing table can be traced to buyer’s inability to obtain financing or bank approval and the process of purchasing a short sale or foreclosure.
Negotiating
Everybody wants to make a good deal and you want to make sure that a low first offer does not backfire on you. Sellers will usually come back with a high counter offer to draw the buyer up to a reasonable price however, sometimes a low ball offer can offend them and you will risk NO counter offer.
As your REALTOR, I will prepare a Buyer CMA (A comparative market analysis) of recently sold properties. This is a helpful tool in guiding the buyer to the market value of the home. Taking this value into consideration along with any closing cost assistance is a good benchmark of arriving at your purchase offer.
Making an offer on a Lake Charles Home for Sale begins the purchase negotiation.
What can you do to guarantee your offer is the one accepted? Financially, offers can be broken down into four categories:
1.) An All-Cash Offer
Obviously, a cash purchaser is always favored by any seller. In today’s real estate market, an all-cash offer is even more enticing. Cash is KING! Sellers need to understand that The Lake Charles Real Estate market has been impacted somewhat by low appraisals. Lenders being required to use Appraisal Management Companies and appraisers are on a rotation basis so you never know which appraiser may be up next. Most recently about one out of four appraisals have been coming in low. An all-cash buyer eliminates the need for the bank appraisal.
2.) A Non-Contingency Offer
If you don’t have the cash reserves for an all-cash purchase, the next best thing would be to make a non-contingency offer. To do this you should be already pre-approved for a mortgage and your current housing is not an issue. This gives the seller the confidence that you are already a qualified buyer who will be able to complete the purchase.
3.) A Contingency Offer
Some buyers start the process of looking for a new home before their current home is sold. This could be a big mistake. If you find the home you were hoping for (perfect for your family AND priced right), it will be very difficult to get your offer accepted because you are not actually qualified to buy.
Asking a seller to wait for your home to sell is somewhat unreasonable in today’s environment. One of the reasons you would want the home is because the seller priced the home at a value to sell it NOW. They want to know it is sold when they accept an offer. They normally will not even entertain a contingency offer.
4.) A Financed Offer
Make sure you understand all the financing timelines included in the financing clause of the contract.
If this is your first home you are purchasing or you are an investor purchasing a Lake Charles property, assuming you are pre-approved with a lender, you will be making a Financed offer. You may have several loan options to choose from with your financing such as VA, FHA, USDA, Conventional. Your loan officer will guide you as to which loan option is best for you. Typically a financed loan will take 30-45 days to close depending on circumstances. Rural Development USDA loans tend to move slowly and may need a 45 day time frame. Most Lake Charles sellers are used to the 30 day time frame and are anxious to close in that length of time. .
Bottom Line
Unless you have the ability to purchase with cash, the best thing to do is to be pre-approved for a mortgage . If you currently live in a home you need to sell, it is best to have your current house under contract before looking for the home of your dreams. That guarantees you will get the home you love at a price that makes sense!
Purchase contracts vary in length and terms from state to state. You need to rely on your agent’s experience and expertise to explain the Louisiana Residential Agreement to Buy or Sell. As your real estate agent, I understand the steps with contract negotiation and usually know what questions you may ask or need answered.
Multiple offers on the same home are not uncommon especially if you are making an offer on a Lake Charles foreclosure. You may only get one chance to make an offer that the seller will consider. That’s why it’s important to think carefully about your strategy. Even if you find a For Sale By Owner home you wish to purchase, in most cases it is better to have your REALTOR negotiate the offer on your behalf.
