Buy

Making an Offer

Author: Ryan | September 5, 2017

If you have not already uploaded a pre-qualification letter and/or your other financial documents to your Get Movin Dashboard, you will need to do so. If the property is listed by Get Movin you will be able to see any other offers on the property and adjust yours accordingly.

While the offer amount is typically the most important factor in your offer, timeframes, Earnest Money Deposit (EMD), mortgage type, and down payment can all be contributing factors in a strong offer

 An "EMD" (Earnest Money Deposit) is a deposit made to a seller showing the buyer's good faith in a transaction and allows the buyer additional time to confirm financing.  

Earnest money is typically held jointly by the seller and buyer in a trust or escrow account.

Additional considerations when making your offer:

Concessions are costs a seller can pay on your behalf such as origination fees, title work, etc. They can help a buyer pay less cash upfront but buyers need to check with their lender before including any concessions to confirm they are allowed by their mortgage type. Are the Appliances included in the listing? While a Seller's Disclosure asks if they are present and work, they are only included with the sale if the listing states they are. You may need to add them to your offer in order to get them with your purchase.

Contingencies are conditions or events that need to occur between offer acceptance and closing. Common contingencies are inspections, financing, and closing the sale of another property.

Exclusions. Before you fall in love with the chandelier, generator, or other fun items you may have seen at the showing make sure you check for exclusions in the listing. Excluded items are on or at the property but that the seller did not include in the price. There should be a section in your purchase agreement to add these items if you want them included at your offer price.

Before you ask to add items to your offer than are not included in the list price you should ask yourself "Is this reasonable?" and/or "Does my offer amount reflect their inclusion?" 

The seller most likely has a bottom line amount in mind regardless of how the math works out.