Raise this with your agent
- Offers usually include financing and inspection contingencies.
- You can request that the seller pay your agent’s compensation in the offer.
- Sellers can offer buyer concessions, such as help with closing costs.
Key takeaways
- Price the offer from recent comparable sales, not the asking price.
- Decide which protections you need before deciding how competitive to be.
- If you want the seller to cover your agent’s pay or closing costs, ask in the offer.
- Every term is negotiable, including deadlines and the closing date.
Writing an offer is where a buyer’s agent earns their keep. The offer is a proposed contract, and small details in it can matter as much as the price. Your agent’s job is to help you decide what to offer, put it in writing correctly and negotiate it. The decisions themselves stay with you.
Setting the price
A good agent starts with recent sales of similar homes nearby and adjusts for differences in size, condition and location. They look at how long the home has been listed, whether the price has been cut, and how many other buyers are interested. The aim is a price you can defend, and one that is likely to hold up when the lender’s appraisal comes in. Paying more than the appraised value is risky, so your agent should help you think about that possibility before you sign.
Choosing your protections
Contingencies are the conditions that let you walk away without losing your earnest money. The most common are:
- Financing: if your loan falls through, you can cancel.
- Inspection: you can inspect, negotiate and cancel if not satisfied.
- Appraisal: often part of financing; lets you renegotiate if the appraisal is low.
- Other: such as reviewing HOA documents or selling your current home.
In a competitive market, your agent may suggest shortening some deadlines to make your offer stronger. That is often safer than removing a protection entirely. A good agent explains exactly what you give up with each change.
Earnest money
Earnest money shows good faith. It is held by the seller or a third party such as a title company, applied to your costs at closing, returned if the contract ends for a permitted reason, and can be lost if you back out without one. Your agent helps you choose an amount that fits your market and confirms where and how to deliver it safely.
Tip: Before wiring money anywhere, call the title or escrow company at a number you looked up yourself. Your agent should encourage this, not discourage it.
Asking the seller to help with costs
Under your written buyer agreement, you are responsible for your agent’s compensation as agreed. But you can request, negotiate for and receive payment for your agent from the seller or the seller’s agent, and many buyers do this in the offer. Sellers can also offer buyer concessions, such as help with closing costs. Your agent should help you decide whether to ask, how much and how it affects the strength of your offer.
Presenting the offer
A clean offer, complete and easy to read, makes a better first impression than a messy one. Your agent typically includes your preapproval letter and may suggest a closing date that suits the seller. Some buyers ask their lender for a letter written for the exact offer price, so the seller does not see the full amount they are approved for.
Counteroffers
The seller can accept, reject or counter. A counteroffer changes one or more terms. Your agent should read it with you line by line: price is the obvious change, but the counter may also change the closing date, the earnest money, who pays certain costs or which items stay with the house. Rounds can go back and forth until both sides sign or someone walks away.
When there are multiple offers
Your agent should find out what they can about the seller’s process: is there a deadline, and will there be a chance to improve offers? They can help you decide your true maximum before emotions take over and make sure your strongest terms are clear on the first page.
When the offer is not accepted
Losing a home you wanted is common, especially in busy markets, and a good agent helps you learn from it. Ask what the winning offer looked like if the listing agent is willing to share: price, closing date, contingencies. Review your own limits honestly. Sometimes the right response is to adjust your search, not to stretch further next time. Keep your preapproval current and your documents ready, so the next offer can go out quickly. Your agent should also keep watching the home you lost; some accepted offers fall apart during inspection or financing, and a backup offer can turn into a second chance.
After acceptance
Once the contract is signed, the clock starts. A good agent sends you every deadline in writing, helps you book the inspection right away and keeps track of the lender’s progress. Next: Your Buyer’s Agent and the Home Inspection.