Have an offer your considering? That’s great, but before you start packing you need to plan ahead to avoid a potential deal falling through. The world is full of nightmare stories about escrows getting to the 11th hour and the whole thing falling apart. Follow the tips below in your acceptance of the offer to protect yourself as much as possible from anything going wrong.
- Talk to your realtor. He or she is an expert and will be able to discuss your situation and what’s best for your family.
- Find out if the buyer is pre-approved. Pre-approval means that they are serious buyers and already have a loan lined up. If not, you may want to write into your acceptance a contingency stating that your buyer obtain a full loan approval (pending the appraisal) within a week or two after acceptance. This is better than waiting till the last minute and finding out that they can’t get a loan.
- Look for contingencies. This means that the buyer has to sell their home before they can buy yours (and that covers most of the populous these days). If their home is already in escrow you can write in that their buyer must be non-contingent and must obtain formal loan approval within the same time frame, avoiding a “domino effect” with all escrows falling out in rapid succession.
- If yours is a divorce situation and nothing is yet finalized on that count, make sure that your Realtor arranges for the buyers’ funding check be written to both you and your spouse (if you have owned the house jointly) and placed in a trust account, for disbursement according to the final divorce agreement. This is a time when you don’t need even more conflict added to the equation.
- Believe it or not, the biggest arguments between buyers and sellers come from what is included as part of the property. If there is anything you plan on taking with you that could be misconstrued (chandeliers, appliances, etc.) remove it before showing your home. If that is not possible, be sure to talk to your agent and mark it in the listing and as part of the agreement.
There are many problems that could come up when selling your house. Your real estate agent will guide you through the process and help you protect yourself and your family. If you still have questions, call Helen today at 847.967.0022 or email [email protected].