Making an offer on a home or piece of real estate is a major deal to most people and not something done very often. You first have to find the property you want, decide how much you wish to pay for the property in comparision to the asking price, identify your terms, any clauses making the contract subject to home appriasal, getting a loan, or subject to your current home selling are all things that can be included in an offer to buy contract.

You read stories about the slow real estate market and how it is a buyers market. These are true in certain markets but not everywhere. In a slow market you can also have two offers come in at once on the same property.

You need to listen to your real estate agent and develope a trust with him. If you think he or she is just trying to get you to give more money, just because, maybe you don’t have the right relationship with the person you are working with. A good agent should be honest and most work as transaction brokers meaning they work for a win/win deal for both buyer and seller. We do tell the truth about whether we think an offer will fly or not.

This past Saturday I had two offers come in at the same time on a home I had listed. This home has been on the market for eight months and had two contracts fail, neither do to the seller or the home’s fault. The owner wanted to sell but was not ready to give his home away. One offer came through a realtor down the block with financing preappoved by a local bank and no odd clauses in the contract. Just a straightford contract with a fair offer for the home.

The other buyer emailed me three or four times telling me she wanted to buy this home. I did not think I had shown it to her and ask if she had seen the home. She said yes and for a minute I thought, could I have forgot showing it to her and lost my notes on her. I did not think so, as I keep a good set of notes on my home showings. I finally got a phone number out of her and called her. I started by asking her if I had shown her the home. She said no, but she could not remember who did. I told her if she was not treated properly that she did not have to work with whoever showed her the home, but that if they were all right she really owed it to them to go to them to make an offer. I advised her that I thought I had two offers coming in with hers, neither would be my buyer client. I told her seller wanted to sell but that she had better offer what she felt fair with the fewest continginces and shortest closing time. I helped her figure out who had showed her the home, which I really think she knew all along. The point of the story is she made a nice offer but inside the contract ask for the seller to pay all her closing cost of almost $4,000. Her loan was through an out of state mortgage company we had never heard of and closing was delayed.

My buyer took the offer that was about the same net money from the first contract I just wrote about. The one with the local bank preapproved letter, an offer that was alittle under asking price but did not ask for closing cost to be paid by seller. It did ask for a home warranty paid by seller, which was traded out of final deal.

The second lady is disappointed, but both parties knew two different people were bidding on the home. The one with the simpliest most straightford contract got the sellers signature and is now looking forward to closing on his new home.

There is nothing wrong with trying to get a good deal. However, when you know someone else is bidding it is best to give your best shot the first time. If you think you are the only bidder, it is ok to see if you can get a deal and then come up. Ask questions and learn what you can about seller’s situation and how eager they are to sell. You can then decide whether to shoot for the deal of the century or make a fair offer the first time. Give it some thought when it comes time to make an offer.

If you would like to see property in the Grand Lake, Grove, Oklahoma area which includes the old Shangri La Lodge area on Monkey Island which is now the Peninsula. Monkey Island is also home to Crowne Ponte, a new condo project. The Grand Lake area offers many fine condos, homes, or waterfront lots to give you a wonderful place on a great lake. See the links below for my web sites and Grand Lake property.