An offer to buy real estate in Northern Virginia is basically a sales contract that hasn’t been signed by both parties yet. A new client asked me the other day about how the home offer process works, so I thought I would go ahead and write a short blog article on the topic.
How do You Make an Offer to Buy Real Estate in Northern Virginia?
An offer to buy real estate has several different pieces of paperwork which your agent prepares after discussing the terms that you want in your purchase contract. This paperwork outlines all the details of the offer, including things like the sales price you're offering, the type of loan you're getting, your inspection period for hiring a home inspector, etc.
The documents are all standard real estate forms that are used in every real estate transaction in Northern Virginia, and your agent should be able to prepare everything fairly quickly with a little advance notice. It’s important to discuss all of the specifics of the offer process with your agent as you get closer to the time when you want to buy a home. That way, you’ll be prepared when the time comes and you find a property that you really want.
What’s an Earnest Money Deposit?
My client also asked me if there was an application fee when making an offer to buy real estate, like there is when you rent a property?
That’s another great question! There isn't an application fee, but there is something called an Earnest Money Deposit, which is a deposit (typically 1% of the purchase price in Northern Virginia) that demonstrates your commitment in good faith to purchase the property.
When an offer to buy real estate is signed by both parties and becomes a contract, the earnest money deposit is put into an escrow account until closing, at which time it is applied towards your down payment. If you decide to cancel the contract after the home inspection or if for some reason you are unable to obtain financing, or for any other contractually legitimate reason (your agent should be able to explain in detail all of the ways you can get out of a real estate contract), your earnest money deposit is refunded to you.
I hope this article has been helpful as you explore the process of making an offer to buy real estate in Northern Virginia!
Email me at DarrenRobertsonHomes@gmail.com to get a free copy of my report on the Top 5 Mistakes that First Time Home Buyers Make!
Read more about the process of making an offer to buy real estate in another one of my past blog posts on the topic.