Finding your dream home is a wonderful feeling that can often be overshadowed by the many factors of the home buying process. Rest assured that when you work with The Davis Real Estate Group, our agents will guide you through all the steps of buying a home, from home tours to making an offer on a house and beyond.
While your real estate agent will thoroughly guide you through the home buying process, here is a basic overview of how to make an offer on a house.
Mortgage Pre-Approval
Before considering making an offer on a home, you must look at your budget and determine what kind of mortgage your finances will allow. We recommend that before you even begin your home search, you receive a pre-approval letter from a mortgage lender. Being pre-approved for a mortgage gives you a more specific estimate of how much you can borrow from your lender and shows that you are a serious homebuyer.
While submitting a pre-approval letter with your real estate offer letter may not be required, we highly recommend it. Being pre-approved strengthens your negotiation ability; if you find a home you love within the price range of your pre-approval, it adds confidence that your lender will approve a mortgage for that amount. There is no worse feeling than falling in love with a home only to find out that you can’t get a mortgage.
Contact us for local lender recommendations!
Find the Right Home For You
When you work with a qualified buyer’s agent through the Davis Real Estate Group, we work within your budget to find and show you homes that match your needs and desires. No one knows the North Dallas, Texas area better than we do. Whether you’re relocating to the area or looking to stay within your current school district, we can find you your dream home, regardless of your budget.
When you find homes you’re interested in viewing, we can schedule tours and attend open houses. Before making an offer on a house, we will dig into important information, such as
- How long the home has been on the market
- How long the seller has lived at the property
- Whether it’s been renovated or expanded
- What the neighborhood and school district is like
Your agent will take all of this information into consideration to help you make a competitive offer on your dream home.
Make an Offer on a House
Once you and your agent have determined that you finally found “the one,” we will work with you on how to make an offer on the house. Determining a good offer is contingent on many factors. In addition to your own budget, you will also need to consider the home’s history and the local market and comparables.
This is where working with a qualified real estate agent is key. Your agent will be able to access information about the property, as well as neighboring properties, to help calculate a reasonable price. We can run comparables or “comps” to show you what similar homes in the area are listed or what they recently sold for to give you an idea of what a reasonable offer would be.
In addition to a figure, you will also need to consider an earnest money deposit and what contingencies to include in your real estate offer letter. Earnest money, or a good faith deposit, is money you put down “in good faith” to buy the home. If you back out of the sale for any reason other than the contingencies in your contract, the seller keeps that money.
Contingencies you may want to include in your offer include home inspection, finances, and appraisal.
Write Your Real Estate Offer Letter
Once you have determined the details of your offer, it’s time to submit your initial real estate offer. Your agent will handle most of the contract, which will be in the form of a purchase and sale agreement.
The purchase and sale agreement becomes legally binding if the seller accepts your offer, so keep that in mind when you draft and review your offer.
Your offer letter will require specific information, including the offer price, amount of earnest money you are willing to commit, legal names of buyers and sellers, property address, all contingencies, and a time limit for the seller to accept your offer. There is a lot more that goes into an offer letter, and your agent will be able to give you specific information when the time comes.
Once the seller receives your offer, they can agree, counter offer, or reject the offer entirely. If they accept, they will sign the contract. If they decline, all negotiations end. If they counter your offer, you can agree to all or parts of the counter offer, or you can counter back.
If both parties reach an agreement, the contract is updated, and the home is under contract!
Buy a Home Confidently with the Davis Real Estate Group
From browsing real estate listings to learning how to make an offer on a house, our agents will help with every step of the home buying process so you can confidently move forward. Are you looking to buy a home in the North Dallas, Texas area? Keep an eye on our listings page to see available properties and contact us to schedule a showing.
If you’re looking to sell your home, give us a call! We offer complimentary customized in-house staging services to help you get more offers on your home.