Put an offer on a house this weekend! -question inside-

[mrswahs]

We've been looking at houses for the last few months and nothing really jumped out at us since our short sale fell through. We offered on a short sale a few months back, had our offer accepted, and then found in the home inspection that it was way more than we bargained for.

Sunday morning we went to see three more houses (after seeing about 30 since the last offer we put in, in person and hundreds online) and the first one was it. It is the one. We fell in love immediately, went to see the other houses just because, but we had made up our mind, the first house needed to be our home. We got permission to re-enter later in the day with our parents (3 hours after we had left before) to get their opinions/blessing before offering since we're first time home buyers. The parents all absolutely loved the house and said it was flawless and to jump on it. We had our offer drafted up and submitted by 4:30 PM.

We offered the list price and asked for assistance with closing costs. We are willing and able to pay all $10k of the closing costs, but we would prefer to get a little help with that, especially since we'll need to pay about $3k to break our lease at our apartment. If they counter we will accept whatever they counter. This house is 100% move-in ready.

We're a little nervous because we know that they had another showing scheduled for tonight. We're hoping that we don't have to worry about any competing offers.

For those of you who are homeowners-- how long did it take you to hear back from submitting your offer? We're going on vacation next week and are hoping that it's possible to get the home inspection done before we leave.

 

[Aoife]

Congratulations on finding the house of your dreams! So far as hearing back goes--it all depends on how the contract is written. We always put in a 48hour limit, but that may vary a lot depending on what's customary in your part of the country. What may eat up time is if you find yourselves in a bidding war, or in an offer/counter-offer situation. Those can drag out, sometimes. Whatever you do, don't allow yourselves to be pushed into a situation where you end up waiving the home inspection.

Good luck!

 

[megumic]

We put in our first home offer two weeks ago. It took a week for us to negotiate, but we went back and forth all day for one full day. You can always have your realtor call and say you need an answer by X date, esp. since you're going on vacation. Once they accept your offer, it goes into a 3-day attorney review process, once it's out you can have the inspection (at least that's how it is here in NJ...)

I would venture to guess you won't be able to have the inspection done until after your vacation. Things move quick, but not that quick I don't think. We have our inspection today (reached an agreement last weekend) so it took us about 7-8 days to the inspection from the date of the agreement.

In the meantime, have you been pre-approved for a mortgage?

Good luck!

 

[mrswahs]

In the meantime, have you been pre-approved for a mortgage?

Thanks for the kind words and all of the information. We actually were weeks away from closing on another house about a month ago, which was at about the same price as this one. So-- in short, the answer is yes

 

[Aoife]

We put in our first home offer two weeks ago. It took a week for us to negotiate, but we went back and forth all day for one full day. You can always have your realtor call and say you need an answer by X date, esp. since you're going on vacation. Once they accept your offer, it goes into a 3-day attorney review process, once it's out you can have the inspection (at least that's how it is here in NJ...)

I would venture to guess you won't be able to have the inspection done until after your vacation. Things move quick, but not that quick I don't think. We have our inspection today (reached an agreement last weekend) so it took us about 7-8 days to the inspection from the date of the agreement.

In the meantime, have you been pre-approved for a mortgage?

Good luck!

I have never heard of this in any part of the country we've bought a home, so this may be NJ or NE US specific. In most states lawyers were not involved in any part of the transaction, including closing.

As far as scheduling the inspection goes, again, it's all area-specific. For one house we sold, the day after the buyers accepted our counter the home inspector was in the house, and faxed the buyers the report from our kitchen counter. It all depends.

 

[violet3]

We put in our first home offer two weeks ago. It took a week for us to negotiate, but we went back and forth all day for one full day. You can always have your realtor call and say you need an answer by X date, esp. since you're going on vacation. Once they accept your offer, it goes into a 3-day attorney review process, once it's out you can have the inspection (at least that's how it is here in NJ...)

I would venture to guess you won't be able to have the inspection done until after your vacation. Things move quick, but not that quick I don't think. We have our inspection today (reached an agreement last weekend) so it took us about 7-8 days to the inspection from the date of the agreement.

In the meantime, have you been pre-approved for a mortgage?

Good luck!

I have never heard of this in any part of the country we've bought a home, so this may be NJ or NE US specific. In most states lawyers were not involved in any part of the transaction, including closing.

As far as scheduling the inspection goes, again, it's all area-specific. For one house we sold, the day after the buyers accepted our counter the home inspector was in the house, and faxed the buyers the report from our kitchen counter. It all depends.

Hi! I sell real estate for a living, so I can try to answer the above two questions as well as addressing your first question. I am in DE, where many retire from NJ, and yes it does seem the attorney 3 day review is standard in NJ.

Real estate contracts are drafted state to state, so each state has different practices when it comes to periods of negotation, home inspections, termite inspections etc. All states have different practices regarding who handles the closing as well -- in DE, ALL contracts must be handled start to finish by a real estate attorney, not a title company. Many other states use title companies for closing.

To the original question, it depends on how your contract is written (and the standard form). Some contracts have a standard clause in them with a specific response time - I'm guessing yours does not, since you are asking when you will hear back. You can also write into the contract that you require a response within 24/48 etc. hours. If you did not write it in, then the answer is....whenever they respond. Generally speaking, I find that I get a response (or contact) of some sort within 24 hours. Sometimes people will go 48 hours, but that's unusual, and generally the other agent will keep me posted on what's happening on the other end (and then I keep the buyers informed). Have you heard anything from your realtor? I'm assuming you submitted yesterday.

Best of luck!!!! Buying your first home is the most exciting thing

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Our real estate attorney submitted the offer with a 24 hour expiration date. So the sellers had to respond (or not respond, if they didn't like the offer) within 24 hours or the offer was void.

If I remember correctly, in the offer we put in dates for the signed purchase and sales agreement, inspection, and final closing and when they'd be receiving chunks of the downpayment (so that they could be negotiated as well as price) along with our small initial deposit. Once the price and timeline was negotiated and both parties signed the initial offer, the sellers' attorney then put together the purchase and sales agreement, then our lawyer reviewed it, we made tweaks, etc. We definitely gave ourselves more than 3 days for the legal review--I think we had at least 2 weeks. Then the inspection, appraisal, etc. followed.

It sounds like you put in a very strong offer, Aoife! I definitely know how discouraging it can feel to lose a house and then feel like you'll never find something you love as much. I think everything always works out the way it should and really hope this is the house for you!! Lots of luck to you!

 

[mrswahs]

Wow! Thanks for all of the wonderful comments and information.

We did not have such a clause in the offer, and I didn't even think about that until this morning. Our realtor was hoping to hear something last night but didn't even get confirmation that they had received it until this morning. She said the sellers are meeting with their agent this evening so hopefully we'll hear something soon!

I know that we are going to have about 14 days from the time the offer is accepted to get the inspection done, so hopefully that will be soon! We have a close family friend who did our last inspection on a few days' notice with the last house and we've already given him a head's up that this may be coming.

 

[violet3]

that happens, especially if the offer is submitted late in the day (i.e. approaching 5 p.m.). If I submit an offer after 5, I never expect to hear back until the next day. You never know what people's schedules are like - and often people want to meet in person to discuss after work. It sounds to me like you have a pretty strong offer, particularly in this market. Please let us know when you hear back!!!

 

[mrswahs]

We just heard back from our realtor. We asked for covering all of the closing costs, they countered saying they'd cover half and we accepted! We should have a signed offer back tonight or early tomorrow

 

[minmin001]

We just heard back from our realtor. We asked for covering all of the closing costs, they countered saying they'd cover half and we accepted! We should have a signed offer back tonight or early tomorrow

that's great news! so happy for you and enjoy your dream home!

 

[centralsquare]

Congrats - we bought our first house a year ago. It was quite a process! When you do get the inspections back...don't freak out! I remember thinking that the house was going to fall down, but then I talked to the inspector directly and there's a lot of stuff they put in there that sounds scary but it's really nothing (and just to protect them).

 

[mrswahs]

Congrats - we bought our first house a year ago. It was quite a process! When you do get the inspections back...don't freak out! I remember thinking that the house was going to fall down, but then I talked to the inspector directly and there's a lot of stuff they put in there that sounds scary but it's really nothing (and just to protect them).

Thank you!

 

[JewelFreak]

WOOOOTTT! You're on your way! Enjoy. Now you can vacation w/out worrying!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Congrats, that's fantastic news!!!

 

[zoebartlett]

Congratulations, Mrswahs! That's exciting news. Now you can relax on your vacation and not worry about it.

 

[maplefemme]

Congrats!!!! Buying your first house is so exciting, now you can just enjoy your vacation.
When I sold my first house, the buyer gave us 30 minutes to accept the offer, we think because our realtor scheduled two other viewings at the same time so they were in there all together viewing.
You'll have to post us pictures when you take possession

 

[TooPatient]

Will you be there for the inspection? We found that there was a lot of little things (leaky faucet) that didn't get put in the report as well as things that sounded big but weren't. Staying with the inspector while he did the inspection gave us a lot more information that we would have otherwise gotten.

 

[mrswahs]

Will you be there for the inspection? We found that there was a lot of little things (leaky faucet) that didn't get put in the report as well as things that sounded big but weren't. Staying with the inspector while he did the inspection gave us a lot more information that we would have otherwise gotten.

We sure will! We got the inspection scheduled for Thursday evening after work, so we'll be there for that. The septic inspection is tomorrow morning which we won't be present at.

 

[TooPatient]

Will you be there for the inspection? We found that there was a lot of little things (leaky faucet) that didn't get put in the report as well as things that sounded big but weren't. Staying with the inspector while he did the inspection gave us a lot more information that we would have otherwise gotten.

We sure will! We got the inspection scheduled for Thursday evening after work, so we'll be there for that. The septic inspection is tomorrow morning which we won't be present at.

Just as well!

Not much you can learn about the septic system from watching the inspection.... except those inspections you learn more than you wanted