Offer To Buy

Negotiating the Purchase

You’ve found it—your “dream house”! You want to buy it. Now what? You make an offer by submitting a signed real estate offer to purchase with the type of financing you desire.

This will be the sales contract once the seller accepts. When you and the seller sign, you are agreeing to the contract conditions. Before you sign it, read it carefully and make sure you understand every detail. Ask questions. Verbal agreements should be written into the contract. If you plan to have a lawyer represent or advise you, retain one as early as possible. This is where your Long & Foster Sales Associate and an attorney can give you the assistance you need.

Offers and Counter Offers

Your Long & Foster Sales Associate will take the offer to a “contract presentation” with the home seller and the listing broker. In some areas, the three of them will discuss the offer, and the seller will accept it as written, or make “counter offers” on unacceptable aspects, or reject it. The selling broker will then bring back the offer to buy to the homebuyer, who can accept it, counter-the-counter offer, or reject it. The offer to buy becomes a contract when all parties have initialed every counter and signed the offer.

When you sign the offer to buy, you also will have to submit a deposit to show that you are earnest about your desire to buy—appropriately called “earnest money”.