Making an Offer

When you’ve found a home that you’re interested in, it’s time to make an offer. As your buyer agent, we will draw up a contract with your offering price and necessary contingencies into a formal contract.

You will want to review this document carefully and make sure it states your terms exactly. If the offer is accepted by a seller, this contract will become a legally binding agreement.

In addition to an offer contract, you will need to provide an earnest deposit.

The deposit typically equals roughly 1-3% of the property purchase price. You will not be at risk of losing earnest money as long as you do not default on your contract. The amount will be credited towards the purchase price of the house at closing.

After you’ve made your offer, the seller will be able to:

1. Accept your offer

2. Reject your offer

3. Counter your offer

In most cases, a seller will not accept your initial offer outright. Typical counter offers include modifications to:

• Purchase Price

• Closing date

• Possession date

• Inclusions

When you make an offer on a house, you should be prepared for the negotiations to go back and forth several times before both parties agree to the terms. You might also have to compete with other interested buyers in certain market conditions.

When an agreement is reached on all issues, and both the seller and you the buyer have signed the offer, you are both under a legally binding contract.

As a buyer, you will be in a better negotiating position if:

• You have been pre-approved for a mortgage

• You are not selling a house at the same time

• You have not loaded your offer with other contingencies

It would be great if closing a real estate transaction was like buying a new bike or TV, just a cruise through the aisles, pick your favourite model and head for the register. But this just isn’t the case. Real estate brokers, buyers, sellers, attorneys, inspectors, appraisers, lenders and sometimes contractors. Because of this, even the simplest transaction today typically takes between 30-45 days to close.

Here’s an overview of how the process will typically work once an interested buyer has submitted an offer.

Dealing with Offers

When a buyer or a buyer’s agent makes a formal offer, we will review the offer in its entirety together. It will include the offer price, as well as the terms and conditions to the offer.

Offers will come on a legal form, and if accepted, you will be entering into a legal contract with the buyer.

When we evaluate offers, we’ll of course consider the offer price, but also need to review:

• All of the terms and conditions of the offer. Home buying offers regularly include terms such as what should be included in the sale of the home, possession date, financing, and scheduling a home inspection.

• Anything that is an unusual request or requirement of the purchase offer. We’ll want to explore the full implications of anything odd that the buyer is including in a purchase offer.

• Whether or not there are other offers on the table that are a better fit for you.

After a buyer submits an offer you can accept, reject, or counter the offer. We will prepare any counter offers together, and I will submit that to the buyer’s agent or the buyer and guide you through the negotiations.

On a typical home sale, here’s how things will run:

Once we’ve received an acceptable offer and entered into a buying contract, there are several steps that will need to be completed before the transaction and transfer of your property is complete.

1. The buyer submits “earnest money” that is deposited into your real estate broker’s account.

2. We will set a closing date with the buyer.

3. The buyer will order an appraisal and an independent home inspection.

4. The buyer will remove the “conditions of sale” after the appraisal and home inspection

5. You will need to complete any agreed upon requests for repair that were submitted by the buyer before the closing date.

6. Closing is scheduled and complete. Your house is sold!

Understanding Property Disclosures

You will be asked to fill out a property disclosure statement during the listing appointment on your home. This statement will list “material facts” about problems you are aware of regarding the condition and history of your home. By law, your real estate agent cannot complete these forms for you.

The general rule of thumb is that you must disclose anything that would:

• Lower the perceived value of the property

• Affect the buyer’s decision to purchase

• Change the price and/or terms the buyer offers

As you fill out these forms, just remember that you should strive to answer all of the questions to the best of your ability. Don’t sweat the small stuff, but make sure you disclose everything that you’d want disclosed to you if you were the buyer. If you don’t know the answer to  a question (such as the exact age of the roof if you’re not the original owner or the like ), answer “Do not know.” But not having precise facts about defects you know exist does not permit you to answer “Do not know” to every question. This will always raise a red flag.

If you feel like you don’t properly understand the disclosure requirement, just ask us, we’ll be more than happy to explain anything for you.

Prepare for Closing

Understanding the steps and terminology used for the closing procedures are key, and we are happy to help you with a quick rundown of the process in our local area. There are a few things you will need to do to prepare.

Facebook, Zoom, Youtube, Instagram, and many social media apps are very viable options to help agents and clients stay in touch. During these pandemic times, it’s not all that difficult to buy or sell a house completely online.  

Join us online for our virtual open houses that we host on Facebook Live. You can comment and ask questions at any time during the time when we are touring the home. You can book a showing of a property with us on FaceTime or Zoom. We can send multiple photos of the property to you as well for more detail. 

If there is a will there's a way! If you are motivated to buy or sell a home, we can help you get there, no matter the obstacles these times throw at us!

If you have a friend or close family who recently bought a home or is going to buy, then you know the struggle with trying to find the perfect housewarming gift. Spending five minutes online you can see that the options are endless. The trick is to know something special or unique about the person to know what unique gifts to get them. Finding that just-right gift can be tricky though. You want to buy something that's considerate and aesthetically pleasing, something the new homeowners will actually, truly enjoy.

It may not always be the easiest thing to do, but if you try to get something that is unique and personalized to the person receiving the gift, it really won’t matter what the gift is. It really is the thought that counts.

Here are just a few great housewarming gift ideas, that can help you start brainstorming for the perfect gift to give to that new home owning friend!

Personalized carved wooden coasters or a cutting board | This really could be great with anything. A gift personalized with the family name like  “the Millers” honestly can’t go wrong with that.

Help them get their new herb garden going | Even something like a herb gardening kit. Any kind of plant makes a great housewarming gift, but if they don’t particularly have a green thumb, you could opt for the small and maintainable air plants. Perfect!

A custom house/family portraits or any art | It makes a great home gift, especially if you’re familiar with their style and what kind of art they’re into.

Classic doormat | You can personalize something like this as well, you can make it funny, or cheery, anything that encapsulates your friend or family member(s).

Custom house number plaque | again this is easier if you’re familiar with their tastes, but something modern and stylish is always popular.

Cheese boards, serving sets, cookware, barware etc. | things that are useful and practical. Things you’ll know they'll use and need! 

Custom home return address stamp | Order online a custom stamp with the family name and address

Funny Kitchen towels | something cheeky, something with a bit of humour that’ll make the person smile. 

Housewarming cookies | There’s nothing more touching than something homemade - when a gift is made with time and care, like bake a batch of home themed cookies!

Buying a home is a big decision…

It is the single most expensive asset most people acquire in their lifetime. The more prepared you are at the beginning, the less overwhelming and chaotic the buying process will be. From the initial planning to selecting the perfect home there are many steps to prepare you for the buying experience. 

What is a Buyer’s Agent and do I need one to purchase Real Estate?

• A buyer’s agent represents the consumer who is purchasing the property in the real estate transaction, not the seller.

• The buyer’s agent works directly for the buyer and has their best interests in mind throughout the entire real estate transaction.

• It doesn’t cost you any money, commissions are paid by the seller.

Understanding the process

• The loan process

• Home search

• Homework

• Offer/Negotiating process

• Conditions

• Preparing to move

• Closing

Selecting a lender & the loan process

The loan process is the tedious part of the purchase. It is crucial for you, as a buyer, to understand what you can qualify for as far as a mortgage payment. Once lenders have received your information and can pull your credit report, they will be able to give us an accurate amount you can qualify for.

Home Search

It is important for us to learn your wants and needs. Be as specific as need be, it will help us select homes that match all of your criteria. The step where we physically start the previewing process. We’ll schedule the appointments to view the properties that you are interested in.

Homework

When we have found a home that you love, it’s time for us to do our research. I will provide you with comparables in the neighborhood and/or surrounding area. This will show you what homes are selling for and hopefully give you an idea of where you want to start with your offer. This would also be the time to research the areas schools or maybe request information from the seller on their average utility bills, questions/concerns on the property. disclosure, etc.

Making an offer & deposit money

You need to enter into a written agreement which starts with your written proposal. This proposal specifies your price and the terms and conditions of the purchase. Purchase and Sale Agreement forms offer protection for you, the buyer, and covers the questions that need to be answered during the process. Deposit money accompanies your initial offer to purchase, this money is held until all parties have reached an agreement and the offer becomes a contract. Once the deal is firm, the deposit money held in trust goes towards the purchase of your new home.

Negotiating Process

This is the process that follows once you have sat down and written the offer on a property. We send the offer to the listing agent, who represents the seller. The agent and the sellers will discuss the offer and may either accept, counter or reject our offer. If they decide to counter or change our offer in any way, this is known as the negotiating period. This can go back and forth until we have reached an agreement; when everyone has signed off on the final contract.

Conditions

This stage will start once we have an accepted offer. The first and most important step is to get financing approval. The lender will require all documents related to the transaction. Once written approval has been received from your lender you can move on to the home inspection. This will ensure you that the home is in good condition and there are no hidden defects. After all conditions have been satisfied, it is time to make the deal firm. Congratulations, you’ve just bought yourself a house!

Preparing to Move

You’ll be responsible for choosing an insurance company to insure your new home. Once you have selected that company and the agent, please contact your lender with the information, including their telephone number. Also, you will need to start contacting the local utility companies to have the services transferred into your name on the date you are scheduled to take possession. 

Closing

Closing day for a home buyer is a fresh new start. It can also be extremely stressful. Make sure you know how much money you will need to bring in on closing. The balance owing will not only include what is stated in the purchase agreement, but will also include land transfer tax, legal fees, disbursements and any closing adjustments. Discuss this  with your lawyer well in advance of closing to ensure that you have sufficient funds available. Most closings take place around noon so don’t plan to arrive at the home earlier. Being properly prepared before, during and after you move into your home will make your home purchase a wonderful experience. We are here to answer any questions that you may have during this process, even after closing!

Everyone knows that the spring and summer months are the most popular time for buying and selling real estate. We know things like moving and a home not covered in snow are easier when the weather is nice. But there are some great reasons why house-hunting in the winter months is just as handy as in the spring/summer. 

Less Buyers = Less Competition | With more people looking for a new home in the warmer months, that gives you the advantage of being less likely to be in competing offers. This is true for sellers as well, with less inventory there is less competition.

Supply Exceeds Demand | When there are fewer buyers than there are houses to sell, this can lead to houses being priced lower than they are in the spring and summer. 

More Motivated Buyers and Sellers | Usually people don’t purposefully choose winter to find a home, but the timing is right for them too. Whether it’s a career change or some other sort of circumstance, buyers and sellers are going to be more serious for a purchase. Which means sellers may take a lower offer, or buyers might offer closer to the asking price. People who are coming to see your home are most likely not “just looking”.

Test a home’s winter fitness | When you’re viewing a prospective home during the winter you really can see how it will hold-up during cold weather. This is a buyer’s time to see if there are any really cold rooms, check for drafts, the HVAC system, and check out the lighting.

Be Top Priority | It’s easier during the winter months to hire a contractor to finish off that last bit of flooring, get a home inspection done almost immediately or connect with other real estate agents. In fact, most agents have fewer clients and therefore more time to dedicate to you. You may even find banks and other lenders more accessible and quicker at providing assistance. In some cases, you see lower costs on services such as movers – because you are willing to move during the winter.

Take advantage of the winter selling season. Any season is a good season to sell or buy if you’re ready to sell or buy a home. Talk to one of our agents here at Gateway Realty if you’re ready, snow or no snow. 

Windows and Doors | Stop any heat leaving the house by sealing leaks and cracks. Check the rubber seal around doors, see if you can see anything light coming through to indicate if the seals are broken. Invest in inexpensive caulk to seal up any cracks in windows. You can also install plastic window treatment, especially if you have single pane windows. 

Upgrade your Thermostat | Make the switch to a programmable thermostat, and no longer have to constantly be changing the temperature. They help save money because you get to decide when the heat will go on and off. When you know you’ll be home and will want the heat on, you can programme it to kick on then, and then programme it to go to a lower setting when you know you’ll be out of the house or when you go to bed.

Better Insulation | If you own an older home, a big loss of heat is through the lack of insulation, find out what kind of insulation you have and where you need to add to it. The attic is a popular place for heat to escape. Check stairs, trapdoors, and vents, to make sure they’re properly sealed and insulated.

Deprioritize Unused Rooms | Heating your entire home seems silly if you’re only using a couple of rooms in the house. You could invest in an electric fireplace/heating for rooms that are used often or even heated flooring in places like the kitchen or bathrooms. You can also shut the door or close vents in rooms not being used.

Simple Actions | Do the little things like letting the sun in during the day and closing the blinds at night to avoid a chill. Have your ceiling fans going clockwise at a low speed, since warm air rises, this pushes the heat back downwards. 

Keep Things Clean | Keep vents and radiators clear, if you’ve got the heat going, you don’t want it being blocked by a piece of furniture preventing it from circulating around the room. 

Change air filters, allowing hot air to move easier, can be changed monthly - or whenever it’s dirty.

This may be the first time you’ve ever sold a real estate property, or it may have been some time since you’ve been involved in a real estate transaction. Here’s a quick refresher on some of the real estate specific terms you’ll want to know.

Real Estate Brokers and Real Estate Agents

Listing agreements are made between real estate brokers and you, the seller. A real estate agent works for the licensed real estate broker. The commission for the sale of your home will be paid to the real estate broker. The real estate broker will pay a split of that commission to the seller and buyer agents where applicable.

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

The Multiple Listing Service is a proprietary database of all properties currently under an active listing contract in each area.

All active agents and brokers who belong to this MLS will have access to information about your property listing. Buyer’s agents searching for a new home for their clients will learn about your property listing through this online database.

Real Estate Portals

Real estate portals websites like Zillow and Realtor.com are data aggregators on listing information. The marketing information on your listing will be syndicated to real estate listing portals in order to draw in the largest possible market of interested buyers.

Appraisal

Before you signed your listing contract with us, we offered you a competitive market analysis of your home’s value. We will set the final asking price on your property based on this market value estimate. This valuation helps assure the lender that they would own a marketable property if the buyer should default on their mortgage. The buyer will pay for the house appraisal, but you should know that it may be different than the market analysis that I provided you.

Inspection

In addition to an official appraisal, most interested buyers will request a home inspection before final sale. The goal of a home inspection is to give the buyer an objective, independent and comprehensive analysis of the physical condition of your property and check for any safety issues that might otherwise be unknowable.

A professional inspector will check on the structure, construction, and mechanical systems of the house.

Showing Appointments

When an interested buyer is scheduled to see your property, it’s best if you, your family and any pets you may own are not in the property. We work with you and the other real estate professionals who will be showing your home to schedule and supervise listing appointments. These home showings will most likely be an inconvenience for you and your family. I will do everything I can to work with you to minimize the impact, but an aggressive showing schedule will help us sell your property quickly, which is our ultimate goal.

We are saying that price per square foot has no bearing on the value of a home. Let's say that there are a bunch of houses in a neighbourhood, and they have exactly the same floor plan, you pick one of these houses and it’s very similar to many in your neighbourhood. 

But what if one person puts in laminate kitchen counters and another puts in granite? What if one adds on an amazing screened in back porch and the home next door doesnt have a porch or it isn’t fenced or landscaped or they sit on a quarter of the size of land? Are you going to say that the price per square foot is going to be exactly the same? Of course not! It’s not the same, because the one house had many more upgrades, it had many more features, it had a lot more outdoor living space, which is not included in the square footage of a house. 

So if someone is valuing a house purely based on price per square foot, call them out! This is a lazy way of deciding an accurate value on a house. What we really need to do is to evaluate the price of the house - is find the value of a house. Granted, everyone's opinion of a house is just that, an opinion. Even if you get an appraisal done on your house, that is still just one person’s opinion, so you might want to take it with a grain of salt. But if you have several SOLD comparables in your neighbourhood, we can look at them and get a price range. We also want to look into the market stats of the area - how is the market doing? Is it a sellers or a buyers market? Then we can make adjustments from comparables, did one have a three car garage and the other a 2 car? A garage is not counted as living space, so it will not be counted in the square footage. But wouldn’t you pay extra for a three car garage? In conclusion, there is many factors that goes into appraising a property, and it is not something you can just mash out in a few minutes. 

Buyer’s Market

Means there are more homes on the market than there are buyers. In this type of market, buyers will spend more time looking for homes. There are more homes on the market, giving the small number of potential buyers more to choose from. The prices of homes can be stable or perhaps dropping. Sellers will find that buyers have stronger leverage when negotiating.

Seller’s Market

Means there are more buyers than there are homes for sale. With fewer homes on the market and more buyers, homes sell quickly in a seller’s market. Prices of homes are likely to increase, and there are more likely to be multiple offers on a home. Multiple offers give the seller negotiating power, and conditional offers may be rejected.

Balanced Market

Means there are the same amount of homes for sale and buyers. When there is equal competition between buyers and sellers, this means that there are reasonable offers given by buyers and homes sell within a reasonable time. With less tension between buyers and sellers, the prices of homes remain stable. Before buying or selling a home, it is important to find out what type of market you are entering into. Your listing price, negotiations and expectations will all be affected depending on whether it is a buyer’s market or a seller’s market.

There are a lot of benefits to buying a foreclosure… but there are a lot of misconceptions too. If you’re looking into purchasing a foreclosure property based purely on the fact that it may be a “discount” or the bank’s just trying to give it away, you should probably give it some more thought. The bank has already taken a pretty big loss, the homeowners stopped making their payments, and they had to incur legal expenses with the foreclosing of the property. They are most likely now paying the water bill, the electrical bill, the gas bill, and maybe even paying someone to mow the grass. So with whatever loss they’ve taken, they're going to want to recoup their losses as much as they can. 

So, is the price always reasonable? No it’s not, however most of the time they won’t be unrealistic with their asking price. They will have the property appraised and they’re going to (hopefully) list it at a reasonable price. But they’re not going to give the property away, and they’re certainly not selling it for pennies on the dollar. Yes… they do want to get these properties off their hands, but they won’t be selling them at the expense of losing an additional 20, 30, 50 thousand dollars. If the property is in good condition, there’s no reason for them to discount it. If the house is a nice house that any buyer would love to have, they’re going to sell it at fair market value - or pretty close to it. If the house has been vandalized or needs extensive repairs, they’ll take that into account when they set their asking price… but the price isn’t just pulled out of thin air, they have the property appraised prior to putting it on the market. 

If you are interested in purchasing a foreclosure property be sure to recognize the risks along with the pros. You may be able to purchase the property below market value, although you should know that this may result in you being stuck with the previous owners repairs/maintenance or lack thereof. Plus if any work was done without the necessary permits you may have to pay to get it redone. However if you are a property flipper there is a potential for an investment gain when buying a foreclosed home. The property is usually vacant so possession can be within 30 days, but you may find that there is no electricity or other utilities unless the bank continues to pay for them and/or the home is in a state of poor cleanliness as the previous owners probably didn’t tidy up before vacating the property.

Some other things to consider:

• Vandalism isn’t uncommon in foreclosures; thieves will break in and steal anything… even the wiring, so look out for that

• Budget properly

• Ask if there are any disclosures that the seller needs to make - or any hidden issues

• Bring in an expert to do an inspection - but you need to see the house yourself as well

• The longer a homes has been empty, the more repairs it’ll require

• Find out if the home has been winterized - and ask to see the paperwork

All of this isn’t to say you shouldn’t look into foreclosures, if you are interested in viewing any foreclosure listings or you maybe just have some questions about foreclosures in the Melfort area, send us a email, leave us a message on Facebook or just give us a call, and we’ll get back to you right away.

Making an Offer

When you’ve found a home that you’re interested in, it’s time to make an offer. As your buyer agent, we will draw up a contract with your offering price and necessary contingencies into a formal contract.

You will want to review this document carefully and make sure it states your terms exactly. If the offer is accepted by a seller, this contract will become a legally binding agreement.

In addition to an offer contract, you will need to provide an earnest deposit.

The deposit typically equals roughly 1-3% of the property purchase price. You will not be at risk of losing earnest money as long as you do not default on your contract. The amount will be credited towards the purchase price of the house at closing.

After you’ve made your offer, the seller will be able to:

• Accept your offer
• Reject your offer
• Counter your offer

In most cases, a seller will not accept your initial offer outright. Typical counter offers include modifications to:

• Purchase Price

• Closing date

• Possession date

• Inclusions

When you make an offer on a house, you should be prepared for the negotiations to go back and forth several times before both parties agree to the terms. You might also have to compete with other interested buyers in certain market conditions.

When an agreement is reached on all issues, and both the seller and the buyer have signed the offer, you are both under a legally binding contract.

As a buyer, you will be in a better negotiating position if:

• You have been pre-approved for a mortgage

• You are not selling a house at the same time

• You have not loaded your offer with other contingencies