What happens after you submit an offer?

Once you have been previewing homes and find one that fits your criteria then it is time to act quickly and submit an offer. This is a pivotal and quite exciting time during your home buying process as you have high hopes to strike a mutually agreeable price and terms for your next home. Once you submit your offer, one of three things will happen. It will either be accepted, countered or rejected. Here is a closer look at the possible outcomes.

Offer is rejected
If your offer is rejected, then the seller may feel that your proposed price and terms are just too far off from their goals that they are not willing to negotiate. If this happens, you may want to move on as it may be likely that there is too large of a gap between you and the seller.

Offer is countered
If your offer is countered then you fortunately have another chance to continue to negotiate. At this point consider if the seller’s offer is what you can agree on or if you may need to go back and modify the terms a bit more. This can go back and forth until you either agree on terms or one party decides to walk away.

Offer is accepted
Once your offer is accepted, now things become more real and exciting. Here are the basic things that will follow after the acceptance and signed offer.

  • Financing – Now is the time to follow up with your mortgage broker who had pre approved you and alert them of the terms of your deal. Your lender will also make arrangements for a home appraisal to verify that the price you paid is a fair market value.
  • Home inspection – A home inspection is a really wise idea as it is a really detailed look “under the hood” of the home. Depending on what is found by the inspector, you may ask the seller for some fixes, ask for a concession or simply pass on the home altogether.
  • Homeowner Insurance – Lenders will want to see that you have an insurance binder for the home. Shop around for rates and don’t be afraid to negotiate. Sometimes you can save when you bundle things like home and auto plans.
  • Proceed to closing – As you progress towards the closing date things happen behind the scenes and you may be contacted for some questions or information. Your lender will be preparing your loan paperwork, your attorney will be preparing your closing documents and title company will be doing research. Your job is to make sure that you have your down payment funds ready. Just before your closing appointment, you will typically do a final walk through of the home to inspect the condition and see if any changes were completed that were specified in the contract. You will then proceed to the closing and finish by signing all necessary documents. Once completed, you are officially a homeowner!