How To Make An Offer On A West Knoxville Home

After looking at countless West Knoxville homes for sale, you’ve finally found the right one that meets you needs. Making an offer on a home can be exciting and a little overwhelming, but with the help of an experienced agent, you can write an offer that meets your needs and gets you your West Knoxville dream home. Here is a breakdown of what is included in an offer and some of the basics of making an offer on a West Knoxville home.

What Is In An Offer?

A purchase offer contains a wide variety of things. While every state is a little different, Realtors have standard forms that are used to write up an offer that meets state and federal laws. Generally, purchase offers include the following information:

• Address of property
• Sales price
• Financing terms
• Promise of seller to give clear title
• Target close date
• Earnest money and how the earnest money will be handled
• How taxes and any other necessary other prorations (HOA dues, utilities, etc) will be handled
• Who will pay for certain closing costs (termite inspections, inspections, survey, etc.)
• The type of deed that will convey title
• When the offer expires
• How final inspections will be handled
• Any contingencies that the sale is contingent on
• Any other requirements that are required by state guidelines

Why Contingencies Are Important

Contingencies are a critical part of an offer because they offer a way out of the contract if a certain event does or doesn’t occur. Commonly, most contacts are written to be contingent on a good home inspection. that way, if a home inspection finds something significantly wrong, a buyer is not still required to go through with a purchase. Financing is another common contingency, so if a buyer cannot secure financing, they are able to walk away from the home. An agent will be able to explain the downfalls and benefits of certain contingencies to help protect you when you’re buying the home.

How The Earnest Money Is Handled

Earnest money is the amount your willing to put down with your offer on the home. The amount varies widely depending on the price and terms of the contract. Also, be sure you understand what will happen to the earnest money if the deal falls apart. Your agent will be able to explain what scenarios you’ll get it back and what situations you’ll need to forfeit it.

What Happens Next?

A purchase offer isn’t a binding contract until all parties agree and sign off on it. There are three different scenarios that can happen when you make an offer:

• Seller can accept the offer, making it a binding purchase agreement.
• Seller can counter the offer, changing the terms of the contract. Commonly, they’ll contract the price, seller paid closing costs, among other things. Depending on the counter, you can either accept or counter the offer back. The contract is not valid until all parties agree
• Finally, the seller can flat out reject the offer. Typically, this will happen with low ball offers that the seller feels they will be unable to negotiate with.

Regardless of whether of not you’re a first time buyer, it can be very helpful to have a West Knoxville agent to help you way the pros and cons when writing an offer. They can also help you write a good offer in a competitive situation.

Are you thinking about buying a West Knoxville this year? Please let us know if there is anyway that Knoxville Home Team can assist you. Rick can be reached at 865-696-9002 or via email at [email protected]. Kati can be reached at [email protected]. Also, be sure to check out our West Knoxville Home Search Page.