If you know how to make an offer on a house, you could save yourself $10,000 to $100,000. I’ve helped clients do this, so there is no hype here. It’s also about being able to buy the home you fall in love with. Here’s a true story, and it just happened in Sequim, WA. Let me give you some background.
How to Make an Offer on a House in the Beginning
A lifetime resident of northern California has dreamed from a distance about living in Sequim. She read about Sequim, she searched the Internet to learn more about the Sequim real estate market and how to make an offer on a house. Finally, after months and months of thinking about it, she finally did it. She searched and found a Sequim Realtor long before she came, and she communicated with her Realtor for months before finally narrowing down the list and coming to view the homes.
The first day she rode with her Realtor as they made the rounds and drove from house to house. She learned all about life in Sequim, the people, the weather, the recreation and she got her questions answered. And she saw some quirky homes on the first day. But the second day was a different story. The homes were all traditional floor plans, newer, and in good areas.
Near the end of the second day they drove up to a home that had incredible curb appeal. Wow! They parked in the driveway and paused as they both looked at a beautiful house in a setting that could only be created by a master gardener. The big shop out back added a lot to an already incredible property, and the 2.5 acres and the pond were almost too good to be true. The interior was also impressive. The kitchen was modern with high quality custom cabinets and countertops. The listing price was also very reasonable.
How to Make an Offer on a House with Strategy
After some discussion with her Realtor, she decided she should make an offer. The question was how much to offer and how to structure the offer. Since the home was shown to another potential buyer earlier in the day, her Realtor advised her that person would most likely make an offer. How could he know that, or how could he think that was so likely? If another buyer had filtered through hundreds of homes on the Internet, then narrowed that down to a list of a dozen homes, and then looked at this one, it would be game over. This was unquestionably one of the best homes and properties on the market in this price range. It would sell quickly, and her Realtor had the experience to know that.
Since the price was already very reasonable, and since it was the ideal home and there were very few anywhere on the Peninsula like this, and because another potential buyer had looked at it earlier in the day, she decided to make a full price offer. She spent some time discussing with her Realtor how to make an offer on a house. Finally, the offer was drafted, signed, and submitted late that night, about 10:30 p.m.
The next morning the listing agent called to report that lo and behold, there was a second offer, and he intended to present both offers to his sellers at 4:00 that afternoon. What was the result?
How to Make an Offer on a House to Win
Both offers were incredibly similar. According to the listing agent, the offers were nearly mirror images of each other, including the offering prices, which were apparently both at full listing price ($349,900). There was one difference. My client’s offer was all cash with no financing. Yes, I was her Sequim Realtor, and she got her home. Is she happy? Quite happy. Her dream of moving to Sequim is coming true.
There’s more to the story about how we approached this offer, exactly how we drafted it and the terms, and how we proceeded to handle our due diligence prior to closing. Suffice it to say, it is a good thing to know how to make an offer on a house.
Last Updated on August 28, 2012 by Chuck Marunde
