Signs Your Offer Will Be Accepted (or Rejected)

September 16, 2022

Signs Your Offer Will Be Accepted (or Rejected)
The hunt for a new home may be an anxious time. There will be days when you feel like you’ll never be able to locate a home with the ideal layout, price range, neighborhood, and amenities, no matter how many open houses you go to.
 
In any case, you eventually track it down. After having your Realtor® assist you in writing an offer, you wait anxiously to hear back from the seller. You’re curious how long it takes to hear back after putting an offer on a home.
 
You might ask: when will I know if my offer has been accepted? No one can accurately predict how others will act all the time. A seller may show any or none of the following indicators while considering your offer.
 
Hopefully, they mean the seller will accept your offer. So if you see even one of these signs your offer will be accepted, you could be on the right track!
 

Signs Your Offer Will Be Accepted

 

You Offered Over Asking

 
Intense competition for a house may prompt you to offer more than the asking price. The catch is that you need enough money to pay the gap between your offer and the assessed value.
 
The maximum amount a lender is typically willing to lend on the house is equal to its assessed value. If you make an offer on a home for $315,000 and its list price is $300,000 but it has been appraised for $310,000, your mortgage lender may reject your application for financing unless you come up with the difference in cash.
 

You Are Pre-Approved

 
Assume for a moment that you have a reasonable offer and have done your homework. You have shown serious interest in the property, a solid financial background, and a pre-approval letter from your lender. The home seller may choose to accept your offer rather than risk losing time waiting for a higher one. For many people selling a home, peace of mind comes from knowing that their property is going to financially responsible people.
 
To eliminate any doubts the seller may have about your ability to pay, a competent Realtor® will provide financial documentation in your offer package. However, the seller may tell their real estate agent to seek out extra details if they have any lingering issues or want additional proof.
 
This action shows that you have the seller’s attention and is one of the signs that the seller will accept your offer. Do yourself a favor and have these papers in order so the home seller doesn’t have to wait. Taking too long will only cause doubt in their thoughts.
 

You Are Paying in Cash

 
Looking for more signs that your offer will be accepted on a house? Because they don’t have to wait for the buyer to sell their current home or receive financing, sellers like the short sale and convenience associated with a cash buyer. Given how rare they are today, a seller will likely jump at the chance to accept an all-cash house offer.
 

You Are Waiving Inspections

 
How to make your offer stand out? Sellers may prefer offers without an inspection contingency because they reduce the risk that the buyer would discover a major issue with the property and demand that the seller address it before the closing date. To hasten the home buying process, sellers often agree to forego the traditional house inspection.
 
A home inspection “for informative reasons” may be included in a contract, which is better than skipping one altogether. What this implies is that you won’t ask the seller to pay for or make any necessary repairs to the property. This strengthens your offer and may increase the likelihood that the seller will accept your bid if you do this.
 

You Offered a Lot of Earnest Money

 
How to get your offer accepted? Showing the seller that you mean business by putting up some earnest money, also known as a good faith deposit, can help you seal the deal.
 
How much you should put down as an earnest money deposit is a question best answered by your Realtor®. You’ll include the exact amount and the specifics of how and when the escrow deposit must be made in your offer. The seller might terminate the purchase agreement if you fail to deliver on time.
 

Signs Your Offer Will Be Rejected

 

The House is Hot on Zillow

 
There is a high probability that other potential buyers will share your opinion that this property is perfect for them. With many people considering the same property, several offers might be submitted.
 
The contract terms might be more important to the seller than the purchase price itself. These terms include but are not limited to: no contingencies, a more significant or all-cash offer, and ready mortgage pre-approval. 
 
This is perhaps the number one reason sellers turn down purchase offers, making perfect sense.
 

There Were Multiple Offers

 
Your offer might get lost in the mix if the seller’s agent considers multiple offers in a crowded housing market. Having a stellar representative on your side is a good idea at this stage.
 
A Realtor® who can communicate with the seller’s agent and take the time to explain the offer’s merits may persuade the other agent to exert pressure on the seller to accept the offer. There is no way the seller will forget about you if your Realtor® is constantly checking in with them.
 

The Selling Agent Asks for Best Offers

 
The seller may be holding out for a better offer than the one you’ve made.
 
Many homeowners looking to sell their property already have an asking price in mind. They may consider counter offers and want to keep yours in reserve.
 
Include an escalation clause in your offer if you’re afraid of losing out on your desired home because of this scenario. A provision allowing you to increase your bid by a certain percentage above the next highest offer is called an escalation clause. 
 

You Are Asking for Too Many Concessions

 
Making the error of asking for seller concessions when they aren’t necessary is a common blunder made by first-time homebuyers. Realize that you have a strong chance of rejection if you’re buying a home and counting on the homeowner to contribute to the closing costs. Consider the price you’re willing to pay the home seller if you need them to make any compromises.
 

You Only Offered Asking Price

 
Home prices rise in high-demand, low-supply environments such as a seller’s market, so you may want to make a higher offer than the listing price to win a bidding war. Unfortunately, there’s a probability that a seller will reject your offer if it is equal to or less than the asking price.
 

Your Financing Isn’t Rock Solid

 
No law requires a buyer to be pre-approved before making an offer. However, a seller will recognize a genuine bidder when they’ve taken the necessary measures to get financing.
 
Conversely, a seller won’t know whether a buyer’s offer is acceptable if they haven’t spoken with a mortgage lender before making an offer. When a seller accepts an offer only to find out that the buyer cannot get financing, the seller is left in a bind. 

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