Tips For Making Low Offers

If you are from Mars or something you might not yet know it, but it is a buyers market in Columbus, Ohio.  Unfortunately it is a buyers market where fewer buyers have much money for closing costs, etc.  Due to this, we are seeing a lot of very low offers that include 3 or 4% in closing cost help.

If you are a buyer that wants to take advantage of today's market and want closing cost help please consider strengthening your offer in other areas.

Consider these points:

•1.      Make the deposit a little higher if you can.

•2.      Offer to let the listing agent hold it (good will)

•3.      Keep inspection times and request to remedy times as short as possible

•4.      It is suggested that you have your attorney look at contracts, but please have this completed in a few days, not a few weeks.

•5.      Have your loan approval completed, subject to appraisal, and try to make this period short too.

Please remember that a seller may consider taking a lower offer, but this is a give and take proposition.  If you get the lower price, what are you giving in return?  My suggestion is to help the seller rip off the band aid by making the deal move quickly.

Buyers agents, please read through the remarks and talk to your clients about those remarks before submitting offers.  If in doubt, please call the listing agent.  For example, if the remarks say "Bank Owned and Selling As-Is", it might be a waste of time to negotiate the request to remedy timeline.  Also, the remark that all offers are to include proof of funds letter wasn't put there just so we could fill the space.  The seller really wants one.  Not only does the seller want the letter, he would prefer it is not more than 30 days old and coming from a reputable (known) lender.

Recap - It is not bad to offer an amount lower than asking but if you do, 45 days for inspections, 15 days for attorney review, and a pre-qual letter from JimBob's Loans written on a Denny's placemat in December of 2006 is not going to help you get the home.

On the other hand, maybe I'm the one that doesn't get it.......