Tip #5 for writing a successful (but safe) Offer to Purchase

Tip #5 — STICK WITH THE PLAN!

To be successful in today’s Seller market, you can’t write your offer contingent on the sale of your current home and expect to compete with similar offers without the contingency.

We have a transaction in process right now where a relocating doctor wisely wrote their purchase offer without the sale of their existing home. Their plan was to obtain a gift from her parents for the down payment instead and then repay the gift after their out-of-state home sold.
Wouldn’t you know they got 6 offers on their existing home! They are scheduled to close on the morning of the same day of the purchase of their new home in Wisconsin.


Then, we got an email from our borrower asking whether we could skip the process of having her parents actually gift them the money. Could they instead simply rely on the proceeds of the sale of her out of state home?

I pointed out that if we don’t document the gift, then her financing commitment letter will have to be conditioned on the successful sale and closing of her existing home with net proceeds of at least $100,000. Giving that letter to the Seller will very likely cause alarm because it would conflict with the way the offer was written (without a sale of home contingency).

If you wrote an offer without a sale of home contingency, stick with that plan. Whether you are relying on liquidating stocks or borrowing on your 401k or getting bridge financing or getting a gift from your parents, don’t throw out that original playbook. You can never expect certainty when it comes to the sale of your existing home.

To reiterate, the most important elements in the contract of the Offer to Purchase are the timing and conditions of several interim “bus stops” between the day your offer gets accepted and the closing table.

Let’s quick recap this week’s 5 tips on writing a successful offer to purchase:
Tip #1 – Allow enough time for the home inspection.
Tip #2 – Allow 30 days for both your financing and appraisal contingencies.
Tip #3 – CONTACT YOUR LENDER the same day you get your accepted offer.
Tip #4 – Get on equal (or near-equal) footing with the “right to cure” defects
Tip #5 – Stick with the plan!

Allow yourself time so that you don’t feel cornered by a process that feels rushed or contingency deadlines that feel compromised.

And as always, Accunet Mortgage is here to help.
See our other tips on writing a winning offer to learn more.

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