If you have fallen in love with a home listed by an agent, unfortunately, you won't have access to the modernized offer flow of a Bōde listing but we can still provide you with the step-by-step instructions to structure an offer!
We recommend reaching out to the seller's agent to let them know that you intend on making an offer. You should ask them for a Customer Acknowledgement Agreement to ensure they understand you will be representing yourself.
The following are the critical elements an agent would need to populate an industry-standard Purchase Agreement.
Offer Elements
The elements are pretty standard:
Provide the first and last legal names of all of the people you would like to have on the property title.
Choose your offer price. Bōde provides you with comparables including the sale price for similar homes so that you can make a data-backed offer.
Include your deposit amount and date (this is typically 3-5% of the offer price and should be within 2 days of the offer acceptance).
Identify when you would like the possession, or 'completion' day to be (best to be on a weekday to coordinate with lawyer's office hours).
Outline the unattached goods that you wish to include in the offer. The main category here is appliances. You may also wish to include things like window coverings, a dog house, or a gas fireplace in the yard. Best to err on the side of clarity here. If you think it might not be included, include it here.
Conditions
Typical Conditions - of course not an exhaustive list but a few buyers often consider
Tip: when you add a condition, ensure you also include the date for the condition removal. This is the deadline by which you will remove the condition.
Subject to financing - add the % of the purchase price that you are requiring financing on.
Subject to inspection.
Subject to the sale of the buyer's property.
When a condo, subject to a review of the condo documents.
Terms
Again, Terms can be included in your offer. Here are a couple of terms buyers consider.
Tip: you should also include the dates of these terms.
Repairs - include the item to be repaired. A well-structured term will also include a monetary value to be withheld by your lawyer should the repair not be completed before a specified date.
The number of walkthroughs. Many buyers like a contractual agreement to visit a property for purposes of measuring or design after removing conditions and before the possession date.
Timing
Outline how long the seller has to contemplate this offer - typically 24-48 hours.
PSA: Of course, if this was a home listed by a Bōde seller, this process would be streamlined by technology and you would deal directly with the seller for the utopian experience. Just saying...