I recently posted the first five steps that a home buyer would (or should) go through when purchasing a home. I called the first five as “the shopping” steps and the last five below as “the sale” steps. To find the first five steps GO HERE.

6) Preparing the Offer
Once we have narrowed down the homes, and you have found your perfect home we will prepare the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. We will sit down and evaluate the circumstances and comparables for this property and the neighborhood sales, along with your situation and what you are looking for. We will determine the dates, price, and clauses (terms and conditions) as well as plan the offer strategy (in person, through other agent etc.).

7) Negotiating the Offer
The offer is presented to the vendors. They will either accept, reject or counter the offer and it will go back and forth until an agreement has been met. Often it is not the price that is the “tough sell” it is dates, or timelines, or inclusions/exclusions etc.

8)Fulfilling the Conditions
Once the offer is accepted we will have a certain amount of time (usually 7-14 days maybe longer) to fulfill the conditions which we placed in the offer. These conditions could be upon financing (being approved for the mortgage), insurance (being approved for property insurance), home inspection (getting the “A-Okay” from the inspector), septic and water potability test for rural properties, or review of status certificate (in the case of condominiums). There could still be negotiations that take place before going firm (everything has been agreed and sold), if a major problem arises from the building inspection, both parties must agree on how to move forward ( price reduction, work being done, etc).

9) Firm Offer
Once the offer has been firmed up (all conditions met and agreed), I will forward all of the sale documents to your lawyer and financial institution.

10) Closing
CONGRATULATIONS! Today you get the keys to your new home. Generally do not expect to get the keys before mid afternoon as the lawyer rarely releases the keys before then.

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http://www.MattRichling.com

Matt Richling is a sales representative with RE/MAX Affiliates Realty Ltd., Brokerage, Independently Owned and Operated - The opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the RE/MAX or RE/MAX Affiliates Realty Ltd., Brokerage.