We Found the One! Now What? Here’s What Happens When You’re Ready to Write an Offer
You’ve found the one. That home that checks all the boxes and gives you that can’t-stop-thinking-about-it feeling. Now what?
Once you're ready to move forward, we’ll go over the offer terms together and I’ll walk you through what they mean, how they work, and how we can use them strategically based on the home and market conditions.
Here’s what we’ll look at:
1. Purchase Price
This is the amount you're offering on the home.
Your offer will include a financing contingency, which protects you in case the home doesn’t appraise at the agreed-upon price. Since your lender will order an appraisal as part of the loan process, this contingency ensures we’ll have the opportunity to renegotiate if needed so you don’t end up overpaying.
2. Escrow Deposit
This is the money you put down to show the seller you’re serious. It’s typically around 1% of the purchase price, so for a $500,000 home, that would be $5,000.
In a competitive situation, we might offer a little more to strengthen your offer. The deposit is held in escrow and goes toward your closing costs or down payment.
3. Offer Expiration Date
Every offer has an expiration, meaning the seller has a set amount of time to respond before the offer is no longer valid.
Typically, we give sellers 48 hours, which is a courteous window. But if we want to create urgency, we can shorten that to 24 hours.
4. Closing Date
This is when you officially become the homeowner. Usually, we set this about 30 days out so your lender has time to finalize everything and issue clear to close.
5. Inspection Period
Florida contracts give you up to 15 days to complete inspections, but we can make it shorter to stay competitive.
Most inspectors can get out to the property within a day or two, and you’ll typically receive the report within 24 hours, sometimes the same day. After you review the findings, you’ll let me know what’s not satisfactory to you, and we’ll discuss your options on how to move forward — whether that means negotiating repairs, requesting credits, or walking away.
6. Seller Concessions (Optional)
Depending on the home and the market, we may ask the seller to contribute toward your closing costs.
This is something we’ll decide together based on how long the home has been listed and whether there are other offers in play.
How We Strategize
Every home and every market is different. I’ll always check in with the listing agent to see if there are other offers and gauge the seller’s flexibility. Then we’ll build an offer that’s competitive and aligned with your goals.
