Making an Offer to Purchase
You've researched the property. You know the fundamentals about its benefits and limitations — enough to make you think that it's a good buy. Now it's time to put it on paper. Grab a legal pad, a computer, or use any other organizational method you prefer. It's time to consider all of the pros and cons associated with the property in order to formulate an offer.
A real-estate closing, or settlement, is the event where the actual transfer of property takes place. The escrow period is the time that elapses between your contract date and the closing.
The basics are behind you, but there are no doubt some additional facts that you want to know before you're certain this is the right property for you. These facts are most often items that you don't want to spend money pursuing until you're sure you can come to an agreement with the seller to purchase the property. After all, why spend time and money on research and inspections if you and the seller are far apart on the sales price or other important issues?
Make an Offer on Paper
Most real-estate agents can provide you with some blank sample residential and commercial offer-to-purchase contracts. Take some time to study the wording before it's time to make the offer. Be sure the agent includes commonly used addenda, pages that cover topics that aren't in the main body of the contract. An experienced real-estate attorney can draft a contract for you if standard forms are not used in your area or if you need a more specific contract to cover the purchase of a unique property.
Don't rely on a handshake to conduct business. Oral real-estate contracts can and do go to closing, but if something goes wrong, they are not enforceable. A valid contract must be in writing and must be an agreement made between competent parties who are not being pressured to sign. It must not contain an agreement that is illegal, and some type of consideration must pass between the buyer and seller. Consideration can be in the form of money to the seller, or it can be another benefit, such as a traded property or service.
Counteroffers
If an offer is changed in any way by either party, it becomes a counteroffer, a new offer that is presented back to the other party. The offer is not a contract until all parties agree to all provisions, initialing changes and inserting signatures as required on the form.
