{"id":13759,"date":"2023-12-04T05:00:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=13759"},"modified":"2024-11-14T12:56:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T20:56:30","slug":"buyer-how-to-make-an-offer-on-a-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-make-an-offer-on-a-house\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make an Offer on a House That the Seller Is Going to Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While your home shopping journey technically started with getting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/difference-between-mortgage-prequalification-preapproval\/\">preapproved for a mortgage<\/a> and looking at houses, it often doesn\u2019t feel official until your agent submits an offer. For a buyer who\u2019s never experienced this step in the journey before, it\u2019s a stressful and exciting moment: If the seller likes your offer, you\u2019ll be a homeowner soon!<\/p>\n<p>An offer letter is your introduction to the seller. You want it to stand out and \u201cwow\u201d them. Standard offer letters contain four essential items:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Price<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Fees and earnest money<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Contingencies<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Timing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each presents you with an opportunity to appeal to the seller and write an offer that they love.<\/p>\n<p>Losing out on a house that you\u2019re head-over-heels in love with can be crushing, and sellers can be touchy and emotional when selling their home, so here\u2019s how to make an offer on a house that they can\u2019t refuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Find a Buyer's Agent To Navigate the Homebuying Process<\/h3>\n                        <p>Working with a trusted real estate agent can help you ensure you are submitting your best offer. HomeLight can match you with a top-performing agent in your area in just under two minutes to get you on your way to homeownership.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/buyer?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Find a Buyer's Agent<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"Step 1: Prepare before you buy\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>Step 1: Prepare before you buy<\/h2>\n<p>Whether you take a few weeks or a few months to prepare to enter the housing market, use this time to better position your eventual offer.<\/p>\n<p>Save up as much as you can so you can feel confident in your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-much-should-i-offer-on-a-house\/\">offer price<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-down-payment\/\">down payment<\/a>. Sellers typically favor buyers who have more cash to put into the purchase \u2014 this reassures them that the deal is more likely to close. Also, if the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-what-if-appraisal-comes-in-low\/\">appraisal comes in lower<\/a> than your offer price, if you have a cash cushion, you will have more options for how to handle that scenario.<\/p>\n<p>Once you are comfortable with your down payment savings goals, get preapproved for a mortgage. Not only does the mortgage preapproval amount set your budget for home shopping, but it also tells sellers that you can afford to buy their home. This preapproval limit is especially important in a difficult market.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/agents\/byron-ford-jr-ma-0009071090\">Byron Ford<\/a> is an experienced agent in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/new-bedford-ma\/top-real-estate-agents\">New Bedford<\/a>, Massachusetts, who works with 76% more single-family homes than the average agent in his area. When the market was hot, he would often advise buyers to plan on offering more than the asking price. Because of this, he would guide them to search for properties under their preapproval limit.<\/p>\n<p>At the start of 2023, however, 60% of agents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/real-estate-top-agent-insights-for-new-year-2023\/\">surveyed by HomeLight<\/a> reported that most homes were receiving only one offer. Across the country, agents say that bidding wars are much less common than they were at the height of the market and that even when homes do get multiple offers, they are still getting fewer. But history has proven that, once mortgage rates start to fall, an increase in <a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/homebuyer-conundrum-if-mortgage-rates-fall-bidding-wars-will-follow-expert-says-140737858.html\">bidding wars will follow.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The market knowledge of an experienced agent will help you both find a great house and write a winning offer. They\u2019ll know what sellers are asking for in your area \u2014 from rent-back periods to an extended close date \u2014 and what could make your offer stand out. If you don\u2019t know where to find a great agent, try <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/buying\">HomeLight\u2019s Agent Match<\/a> tool.<\/p>\n<p>After you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/buyer?#\/qaas=0\/\">answer a few questions<\/a>, our tool matches you with several top agents in your area.<\/p>\n<div id=\"section--2\" data-toc-header=\"Step 2: Find a house\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>Step 2: Find a house<\/h2>\n<p>Let the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/homes\">home search<\/a> begin! For many buyers, this is the fun part. During this step, work with an agent to narrow down your preferences, identify the best neighborhood for your needs, and get a feel for the market.<\/p>\n<p>Drive around and compare areas, tour <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-do-open-houses-work\/\">open houses<\/a>, and ask your agent to take you on home tours. When you find the right home, dig into its history before making an offer. You\u2019ll want to know how long the current owners have lived there, whether it\u2019s been renovated, and how long it\u2019s been on the market.<\/p>\n<p>This information leads to the next step \u2014 what you\u2019re willing to pay for the house.<\/p>\n<div id=\"section--3\" data-toc-header=\"Step 3: The price you\u2019re willing to pay\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s how to make an offer on a house that the seller will love. Expert real estate agents share 10 top strategies for 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":39439,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,646,702],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-making-offers","category-offers-negotiations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Make an Offer on a House That the Seller Is Going to Love<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here\u2019s how to make an offer on a house that the seller will love. Expert real estate agents share 10 top strategies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-make-an-offer-on-a-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Make an Offer on a House That the Seller Is Going to Love\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s how to make an offer on a house that the seller will love. Expert real estate agents share 10 top strategies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-make-an-offer-on-a-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-04T13:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-14T20:56:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/How-to-Make-an-Offer-on-a-House-in-2024-That-the-Seller-Is-Going-to-Love.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dena Landon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dena Landon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Make an Offer on a House That the Seller Is Going to Love","description":"Here\u2019s how to make an offer on a house that the seller will love. 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