Conditions & Clauses to Avoid Putting in Your Offer
Putting an offer in on a home is like a balancing act. If you put in too few clauses, you put yourself at risk. We saw that in the crazy 2017 market where everything was going to 10 offers and most buyers were going in with no conditions. That was very dangerous. On the other hand, if you put in too many clauses, the seller will peg you as being a difficult person to do business with.
I work with over a hundred sellers each year. I have the privilege of being in the room after the buyer representative presents the offer and leaves. I get an insight into what is going on in the seller’s head. So, today, I’m going to tell you some things to avoid putting in an offer.
Avoid putting in very long financing conditions.
The normal period is five business days. If you have a 10-day financing condition this says to the seller that you don’t think you’re going to get financing and you’re going to need extra long to try to go to multiple lenders.
Avoid putting in a lower than asked for deposit.
Normally in my market, we ask for a $5,000 to $20,000 dollar deposit. If you put in $3,000 dollars, the seller is going to interpret that as you don’t have enough money to purchase their home. It’s even a bigger red flag if you combine that with asking for a very long closing.
Don’t put in clauses that are already in the pre-printed offer
For example, if you ask will they provide a survey if available? That’s already there. You don’t need to complicate the offer by putting it in again.
Put in a reasonable amount of times to visit the home.
Two to three times is reasonable for the buyer to revisit. 10 is excessive. The seller will often comment to me if they’re going to go that many times I’m going to charge them rent.
Avoid asking for too many of their personal belongings that weren’t included in the listing.
Some people will get really offended if you ask for their couch or their dining room table. Sometimes these items are best used as negotiation points on a counter offer.
Put in the offer only the things that are important to you. Leave out the duplication of things that are already in the printed form or things that really aren’t important to you. Try to have the simplest, cleanest offer but at the same time, you want to make sure it still protects your interests.
