How to Get Your Home Offer Accepted—Hint—It’s About Relationships

Buying a home is no longer as simple as going to a handful of open houses on Saturday and having your offer accepted on Sunday. Today’s market is competitive, and it isn’t uncommon for buyers to take creative approaches when making an offer.

In February of 2022, for example, 68.6 percent of homebuyers making offers with Redfin agents engaged in bidding wars.

Another common strategy for sweetening an offer’s appeal in a competitive market is to waive contingencies, such as right of inspection. By foregoing contract conditions like these, buyers remove some of the potential obstacles to a purchase, hoping to make their offer more attractive to sellers.

However, encouraging a seller to accept your offer begins long before the purchase contract is written. Before a seller will consider you as a prospective buyer, they want to know you prequalified for the amount you’re offering to pay, and this is where your loan officer comes in.

Selecting a loan officer can be a little like choosing your mate or a good friend. Some will gently nurture you through the mortgage process while others may employ a boot camp, tough-love approach. Either relationship has the same good intention: getting you to closing on time with all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed. You get to decide which style is best suited to your personality and situation.

The good news is that there is a loan officer for everyone! Selecting the right person to guide you through the mortgage process should be your first step when buying a home. Relying on the wisdom and experience of your loan officer can help improve the odds of getting your offer accepted—an important consideration in a market where homes are few and prices are rising.

Your loan officer may be able to recommend a real estate agent with a similar approach and style to help you navigate the home-market side of buying when you make that offer on the home of your dreams.

Having trusted advisors by your side will be a huge advantage before you even make an offer. Your loan officer will begin by reviewing your financial position. He or she will discuss your current income, your expenses, your short- and long-terms goals, and run a credit report to ensure there are no unexpected surprises that could derail you on the path to financing.

Your loan officer will take into account how much you are comfortable paying on a monthly basis, as well as other factors, such as whether you have a sufficient rainy-day fund, retirement savings fitting for your stage in life, and money set aside for the things you love to do such as travel, sending your children to college or improvements for your new abode. Each of these factors will help him or her arrive at a monthly payment you can comfortably afford and leave enough available for you to enjoy life!

Your mortgage officer will also help you determine other factors essential for a successful home offer, such as how much you can put down and how much earnest money you have on hand to offer as a deposit to the seller.

Making an Offer on a Home

Imagine, you find the home you adore. You make an offer, and it is accepted. Hurray! Then, you find out your proposal wasn’t legally binding. Ouch. What a letdown. This could happen if you don’t address the various legalities associated with making a home offer in your state and locality. Your advisors are the experts who keep their eyes on these details.

It’s just one reason why it’s important to find the right real estate agent. A qualified and experienced agent should be aware of the legal requirements associated with making an offer in your state and can help you draft a binding contract.

A real estate agent also can access information on recent sales in the area to determine comparable pricing for the property you want to purchase. Knowing what other buyers paid for similar homes can help you determine a sale price the buyer is likely to consider and accept.

Lastly, successful realtors understand the types and ranges of offers that are currently being accepted in your area and can provide advice on factors such as earnest money and contingencies.  Agents can advise on whether you should offer special considerations, such as money to cover a possible appraisal gap. They can also let you know when it may be time to walk away from the competition and move on. 

When it comes to making an offer that sellers will accept and winning in the heat of a bidding war,  securing the right relationships early in the process—your loan officer and real estate agent—can be  essential when trying to purchase the home of your (and everyone else’s) dreams.