Other Safeguards When Writing Your Offer

Sellers Disclosures

While looking for a home, you have toured many properties looking at walls and ceilings and noticing peeling paint or leaky faucets. When you choose the home you want, you must remember that the current seller has years of knowledge about living in that home. This is why you will require in your contract offer that you receive a Sellers Disclosure on the property.

The Sellers Disclosure is a document filled out by the seller disclosing the condition of a large variety of items concerned with the home. Any adverse conditions must be included on the disclosure and may include problems with the house, location of the property in an identified flood zone, noise zone or other hazardous area, and the payment of any management or homeowners fees associated with the area in which the home is located. These conditions may impact your decision to purchase the home. It is best to know about them immediately.

Normally, when an agent is representing you, they will insist on a copy of the Sellers Disclosure before you even submit a contract offer. But if you do not receive them until after the offer is submitted, remember that time is of the essence in deciding whether or not you wish to proceed with the purchase.

Property Condition

When you assume possession of your new home, you expect to find it in at least as good of condition as when you first viewed it. If there are specific things that you require to be done before closing, these should be listed in your offer. For example, if you want the carpets cleaned you would specify in your contract that you expect the carpets to be professionally cleaned prior to closing on the home. The important thing to note is that you indicate your expectations about the minimum condition of the home when you take possession.

This, of course, does not include those items that you wish repaired following inspections. Those are normally handled in a separate amendment.

Inspections

Unless you are willing to accept the home “as is”, you should have inspections preformed. If the home is being sold “as is”, you should still have inspections done to determine whether or not you even want to submit an offer.

Normally, an appraisal will be required by your lender. In Texas, a termite inspection is also important. Hiring a professional home inspector should also be on your list. Make sure that the inspector is licensed, a professional, and will spend time with you going through the home and submit a thorough and detailed report. It is also important that they be able to tell you which items are really of concern and which are not. There may be a need for other types of inspectors including mold, hazardous materials or structural.

In your contract offer, you will specify an amount of time that you wish to use for your inspections. Use that time wisely and remember that time is of the essence. When you receive the inspectors report, review it with your real estate agent and decide how you wish to proceed. Some options include doing nothing, submitting a request that the seller arrange for the repairs (always get receipts at closing), or requesting that the seller contribute a dollar amount to you at closing to cover the cost of the repairs (this will entail getting estimates from contractors). You also have the option of canceling the contract if you find that you don’t want the house after all.

Remember though, if you do not complete the inspections, review the report, and negotiate any requested repairs or cancel the contract within the specified time period, you will have bought the home “as is”. Normally seven to ten days are allowed for this ‘option period’. This time period will begin the day following execution of the contract offer by both the buyer and the seller.

Final Walk Through

The final safeguard you should include in your contract offer is the right to do a final walk through of the property prior to the closing. This allows you to ensure that the property condition is as you specified in your offer and that the negotiated repairs have been completed. Your agent will join you on this tour. Once complete, you can attend the closing assured that the property is now ready to become your home.

How Financing Details Affect Your Offer