We made an offer, now what?

[jamisoncollette]

Fi and I made an offer on a house today. We have been looking but were not planning to buy until the end of summer since I havn't worked in two months. However, a house in our desired area came up within our price range and we jumped. Now we wait, and wait, and then what? I havn't even learned everything I need to know yet! Any veterans of the market out there?

[Jessica]

I just went through this process in October and was just in a state of "duh" through the whole process!

 

I remember after we made our offer we had to wait for the sellers to either accept or make a counter offer.

 

Once that was done we accepted the offer.

 

Then.... ummm, other stuff happened! I forget! We had a lawyer handle the negotiations which made things a lot easier and made us feel better protected.

 

I remember we had to make the down payment within a certain amount of days and sign a LOT of paper work. There was some sort of waiting period that we had to endure after we accepted the offer in which the sellers could legally opt oout of the deal. It was only a couple of days.

[Jessica]

Oh, and congrats on making an offer on the house!!!! I'm exicted for you!

[MelissaH]

Once we made our offer we waited for our real estate agent to call us to let us know if they'd accepted our countered our offer. They countered it, we accepted, then we had to go meet with our real estate agent and sign a bunch of papers.

 

Then had to go meet with our lawyer to sign a bunch more papers and hand over the downpayment.

 

Then we just waited some more for all the paperwork to go through.

 

Before we closed we had to show that we had house insurance and obviously had to set up our mortgage.

 

Pretty easy and totally not as scary as I think we all expect it to be!

[twinkletoes]

Dont forget about inspections!

 

Congrats! You know the rules, we want a pic :~)

[MelissaH]

Oh ya, definately do a home inspection beforehand - I hope you included that in your offer as a condition!!

[MarieSam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamisoncollette Fi and I made an offer on a house today. We have been looking but were not planning to buy until the end of summer since I havn't worked in two months. However, a house in our desired area came up within our price range and we jumped. Now we wait, and wait, and then what? I havn't even learned everything I need to know yet! Any veterans of the market out there?

First of all, congrats!!! Making the move to purchase a house is a huge step, you must be so excited. FI and I are actually both sideline real estate agents, along with my dad and his mom who are full-time realtors, so in response to your question.....the next step is basically to wait and see what kind of response you get for your offer.

Depending if there were other offers being entertained, either the seller will come back with an acceptance of your offer or send you a counter-offer, which will give you a list of proposed changes or modifications. If you get a counter-offer, then the ball is back in your court and its up to you to decide if you agree to their proposed terms, or you can send them your own counter to their counter, get it Time is of the essence, as they could also be sending out counters to other parties, and sometimes its just a matter of who responds to their last proposal the quickest. But in today's market, which is def. a buyer's market, sellers are very flexibe and willing to give the buyer what they want. It's because there's so much inventory out there right now, and sellers know if they don't work with you, you can pretty much walk away and find another home with ease. So don't feel rush, take your time and really sort through your options and decide what you're willing to negotiate on. Most of the time buyers and sellers can agree somewhere in the middle.

Sorry if I'm confusing you a bit, first time home buying can be a little stressful at times because a lot of it is a waiting game. The first time will def. be a huge learning experience, but once you've gone through it once, you'll be a pro!! =)

Again, congrats and good luck on your offer!! ~ If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask =)

[jamisoncollette]

Thanks everyone, I do feel overwhelmed! I guess I shouldn't finish school, plan a wedding, and try to buy a house all at once Oops, sorry I do know the rules!

Ok here are some pics-its a farmhouse from 1875 with the cutest little yard!

The barn and part of the yard

[Jessica]

OMG!!! I love it! It's so charming. AND IT HAS A BARN?!? That is awesome.

[jamisoncollette]

Grr, why is the one pic so big?! They have the same dimensions in Photobucket!

Thanks Jessica! I love your new avatar!