Offer to Purchase & Inspection
Offer To Purchase
Once you find the right home and decide to make an offer, you will need to work with your real estate agent to put together an offer to purchase. In short, the offer to purchase is a contract between a buyer and seller which summarizes the initial agreement between the parties on price and other terms for conveying a property from the seller to the buyer.
There are several areas of the offer to purchase that are likely to require negotiation between the buyer and the seller before agreement can be reached. These include: price, financing, terms, date of possession, inclusion or exclusion of repairs and furnishings or equipment. The offer to purchase should also specify a period of time during which the buyer must complete desired inspections and investigations of the property before the buyer is legally bound to complete the purchase. Your agent can prepare and negotiate the contract on your behalf, and offer a detailed explanation of each of the standard offer's provisions.
To view a standard form offer to purchase real estate, please call one of our agents if you would like someone to walk you through each section step by step. You may also want to visit www.realtor.orgwhere you can find a complete stepbystep instruction on the offer to purchase.
Home Inspections
Rule number one is to definitely have a home inspection. Even if you are purchasing a brand new construction home, assume there is no such thing as a perfect home. It may be perfect for you; but, there are many important things about a house or condominium which cannot be detected or understood in a simple walk through or typical showing. A home inspection is a critical aspect of the process of buying your home. What a home inspector uncovers about the house or condominium you think you want, may change your mind about buying the property or the price you're willing to pay.
A home lnspection company is standard in your offer to purchase and protects you from being compelled to proceed with the purchase of a property if the home inspection results are sufficiently unsatisfactory. This contingency gives a buyer the right to revoke his or her offer based on the results of the home inspection for a specified period of time and that period should allow sufficient time to schedule the inspection and properly evaluate the results. Home inspectors will rate every aspect of the home including the electrical, plumbing, the heating and air conditioning system, the structural condition of the foundation, the roof and in some cases the performance of the appliances.
A good home inspector will also provide you with helpful hints on how to make repairs and maintain every aspect of the home. A home inspection is intended to be and should be a great learning experience for you. Make sure you are there and observe everything the inspector does and listen carefully to his comments and suggestions. At the end of the inspection, the inspector will provide you with a written report.
