Читать книгу Building Your Custom Home For Dummies - Peter Economy - Страница 77

You or your real-estate agent has to complete an offer form accompanied with some sort of good faith deposit check from you. The deposit amount can be anywhere from 1 percent to 3 percent of the purchase price. The check is deposited in an escrow account upon acceptance of the offer and held in escrow until you close the transaction. The offer and copy of the check are then presented to the seller and negotiations begin.

You and the seller can negotiate the deal through subsequent documents called counteroffers. The seller’s willingness to negotiate is relative to how hot the real-estate market is at the time. A hot market usually translates to less willingness to negotiate. The seller isn’t obligated to accept any of your terms and can always choose to say no. Of course, you can always choose to walk away. Ideally, you’ll each give in a little and come up with a workable compromise. As Kevin’s mom, a 30-year real-estate-agent veteran, said, “An offer is an opening of a conversation.” The fewer emotions in the conversation, the more easily the negotiations proceed.

If the property is listed with a real-estate agent, that agent doesn’t represent your interests. Make sure you bring your own agent to represent you as the buyer. Doing so doesn’t cost you any more because the seller pays the commission. If no real-estate agent is involved, consult one for guidance. They may help you with the paperwork for a small fee. You can always check with an attorney as well, but attorneys generally charge more and sometimes make the transaction more complicated than it needs to be.