4 Tips To Get Your Purchase Offer Accepted
So, you’ve been searching for that perfect house to call a ‘home,’ and you finally found one! The price is right, and in such a competitive market, you want to make sure that you make a good offer so that you can guarantee that your dream of making this house yours comes true! 4 Tips To Get Your Purchase Offer Accepted:
Freddie Mac covered “4 Tips for Making an Offer” in their latest Executive Perspective. Here are the 4 tips they covered along with some additional information for your consideration:
1. Understand How Much You Can Afford
“While it’s not nearly as fun as house hunting, fully understanding your finances is critical in making an offer.”
This ‘tip’ or ‘step’ should really take place before you start your home search process.
As we’ve mentioned before, getting pre-approved is one of many steps that will show home sellers that you are serious about buying. A lenders pre-approval will allow you to make your offer with the confidence of knowing that you have already been approved for a mortgage for that amount. You will also need to know if you are prepared to make any repairs that may need to be made to the house (ex: new roof, new furnace).
2. Act Fast
“Even though there are fewer investors, the inventory of homes for sale is also low and competition for housing continues to heat up in many parts of the country.”
According to the latest Existing Home Sales Report, the inventory of homes for sale is currently at a 3.7-month supply; this is well below the 6-month supply that is needed for a ‘normal’ market. Buyer demand has continued to outpace the supply of homes for sale, causing buyers to compete with each other for their dream homes.
Make sure that as soon as you decide that you want to make an offer, you work with your agent to present it as soon as possible.
3. Make a Solid Offer
Freddie Mac offers this advice to help make your offer the strongest it can be:
“Your strongest offer will be comparable with other sales and listings in the neighborhood. A licensed real estate agent active in the neighborhoods you are considering will be instrumental in helping you put in a solid offer based on their experience and other key considerations such as recent sales of similar homes, the condition of the house and what you can afford.”
Talk with your agent to find out if there are any ways that you can make your offer stand out in this competitive market!
4. Be Prepared to Negotiate
“It’s likely that you’ll get at least one counteroffer from the sellers so be prepared. The two things most likely to be negotiated are the selling price and closing date. Given that, you’ll be glad you did your homework first to understand how much you can afford.
Your agent will also be key in the negotiation process, giving you guidance on the counteroffer and making sure that the agreed-to contract terms are met.”
If your offer is approved, Freddie Mac urges you to “always get an independent home inspection, so you know the true condition of the home.” If the inspector uncovers undisclosed problems or issues, you can discuss any repairs that may need to be made with the seller, or cancel the contract.
Bottom Line
Whether you’re buying your first home or your fifth, having a local professional on your side who is an expert in their market is your best bet in making sure the process goes smoothly. Happy House Hunting!
Call us and we’ll help you to buy your next home…(909)985-9392
How to Navigate The Short Sale Process
How to Navigate the Short Sale Process on Prezi
Making Changes….Is A Short Sale Right For You?
It's just 4 walls... Sometimes the toughest things in life are making changes, big changes that will cause great change in your daily life as well as your families life. I'm talking to anyone that is a homeowner and is confused, scared, just plain struggling...
Bank of America HAFA Guideline Changes for June 1, 2012
Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Short Sale Update HAFA Supplemental Directive 12-02, effective June 1, 2012, impacts short sales with loans from non-government-sponsored enterprises in which the homeowner is eligible for the HAFA program. Key...
CHASE Dominates HARP 2.0
Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase dominated new Home Affordable Refinance Program loans so far, according to bank analysts. The Federal Housing Finance Agency HARP to allow more severely underwater Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers refinance. HARP refis...
Bank of America Forgiving 2nd Lien’s
Bank of America just announced that they will adhere to recent government pressure and begin releasing 2nd liens and releasing their rights to pursuing the seller of a Short Sale. What Bank of AMerica is offering is a result of the agreement with the Nations States...
California Foreclosure Sales Up In May
Foreclosure activity in May was marked by lenders being impacted by local market conditions rather than any national trend, according to ForeclosureRadar’s May 2012 Foreclosure Report. The report examined all foreclosure activity-sales, starts, and timelines-for...
California: The Homeowner Bill of Rights SB 1473 and AB 2610
Attorney General Kamala Harris’ “Homeowner Bill of Rights” continues to work through the California Legislature as two more bills pass, the Office of the Attorney General announced Thursday. AB 2610 and SB 1473 will require buyers of foreclosed homes to allow tenants...
Credit Scores and Short Sales…The Truth?
Mortgage match-up: “Foreclosure vs. short sale on your credit report.” It’s been a while since I’ve come up with a mortgage match-up, but there’s been a lot of fuss about short sales and credit scores lately, so I wanted to add my two cents. I already touched upon how...
Short Sales to Surpass Foreclosure Sales…Lenders Approving Aggressively Priced Short Sales
This is wonderful news for homeowners! Finally, the banks are getting it....Foreclosures hurt everyone! Short Sales help the Seller, the neighborhood and the city! Great Read ..... Short sales of U.S. homes rose to a three-year high in the first...
Owe IRS Taxes? IRS Lowers Restrictions for Offer In Compromise (OIC)
Check this out...IRS is easing there "Offer in Compromise" terms to reflect actually current hardships of taxpayers that owe past due taxes. Please read... The Internal Revenue Service has expanded its “Fresh Start” campaign by...
California NOD Filings Down to 2007 Levels First Half of 2012
California may have some rough patches in it, but overall, with the worst part of the housing crises appearing to be over, the state is seeing fewer delinquencies and losing a smaller number of homes to foreclosure, according to a San Diego-based real estate data...
JP Morgan Chase Leading with Successful Short Sale Processing
JPMorgan Chase completed short sales on 61% of its delinquent mortgage liquidations in 2011, the most of any servicer, according to data compiled by the bank's securities research group. JPMorgan Chase completed short sales on 61% of its delinquent mortgage...
Why We Don’t Want the Sellers Present When Showing A Short Sale Home
It’s the dreaded question real estate agents fear when speaking to the seller. “May I be present at the open house or showing?” At this point, most agents will pause, take a deep breath and think of all the reasons why this is the worst idea possible. Having the...
Fannie and Freddie Accelerating Short Sale Approvals
We appreciate that the US Government now owns over 50% of our homes in the US through Freddie and Fannie and the fact that they are getting on board with their own initiatives of accelerating short sales or get fined! Any how you slice it...this is good news! Thanks...
DeMarco leaning towards NO Principal Forgiveness on Fannie or Freddie Loan Modifications…Strategic Modifiers?
The Numbers are out. Short Sales up 12% in 2011…
Well...That's lack luster! We anticipated Huge Short Sale #'s. However, who could have anticipated the story of "robo signing" and the massive amounts of fraud being committed by the banks? No one...except the bank executives that committed the fraud. So...here are...
California Short Sales Down…Equity Sales Up!
Sale of Distressed Properties Down in California, Equity Sales Up By: Esther Cho 03/27/2012 In California, the sale of distressed properties slowed down as equity sales picked up in February after two months of decline, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.)...
HARP 2.0 is Here! Do you Qualify? Or is a Short Sale the Answer?
The HARP 2.0 refinance program will become widely available to underwater homeowners on Monday March 19, 2012 and is expected to bring mortgage relief to those who are current on their home loan, but have been unable to refinance into today’s historically low mortgage...