What does it mean to make an offer?

So you’ve found a house that you would be happy to call home, what comes next? 

It’s not uncommon to have questions about the process and logistics of making an offer - it is a big step! When you submit an offer to a seller you are sending them a contract that you have filled out with the terms you are requesting, and if accepted, this is a binding agreement. 

Let’s break down the offer process into the various steps:

1. Let your agent know you are considering an offer

Even if you haven’t made a final decision it’s important to let us know that you are considering submitting an offer. This allows us to gather more information for you and stay up to date with the status of other offers. This information will be helpful in deciding on offer terms and understanding what the sellers expectations are and what is most important to them. This is also the stage in the offer process where we contact your lender for an updated estimate of your specific numbers for the property to make sure you know exactly what to expect.

2. Review comparable sales

With any property you are considering we will provide you with a summary of the recent comparable sales, these are the homes that are most similar and have sold recently (typically in the last 6-12 months). With this information we will be able to share with you an estimate of the current market value. We can then compare the market value with the asking price and also consider what the home is worth to you. With these 3 numbers, as well as taking into consideration the offer situation, we can come up with an offer strategy.

3. Decide on offer terms

Along with the price and the terms of your mortgage, there are several other decisions to make for the terms that you will include in your offer. These include: the deposit amount, the settlement date, any inspections or other contingencies. We use an offer terms worksheet to share our recommended offer terms as well as keep a summary of what you want to include in the offer.

4. Review and sign documents

Once the offer terms are decided we will send you the offer documents through an electronic signature platform to review and sign. We will include the documents as PDF attachments for ease of viewing, but you don’t need to print or scan anything, just follow the prompts in the email to sign. You can even do this on your smartphone or tablet. We will be automatically notified once the documents have been signed so once you have signed you are finished with this step.

4. Compile and submit offer package

Once we have the signed documents we will prepare an offer package that includes an offer summary (coverpage), the signed documents, pre-approval letter, and any other documents that we are planning to include. We will then send the offer to the listing agent, confirm receipt and report back to you that the offer has been submitted, and any information on when we expect to receive a response.