How to Buy a Home: The purchase-agreement
- About the Home Purchase Agreement
- How to Buy a Home Wisely
- Home Buying and Negotiations
- Ensuring a Smooth Sale
- List Your Home for Rent or Sale FREE
About the Home Purchase Agreement
A critical step in buying a home involves the home purchase agreement, also known by such terms as the sales contract, the sales agreement, the home purchase contract, and the residential sales contract, among others.
But, despite the terminology used, this document will become one of the most important contracts you may sign, so making sure you understand and properly execute the home purchase agreement is of vital importance. Since buying a home is one of the most important investment decisions most people make, home buyers should also realize that this agreement is a negotiable document.
How to buy a home wisely
Before signing this purchase contract, you should make sure that you shop wisely, not only for your new house, but also for the right mortgage, attorney, and additional professional services involved in buying a home.
In fact, some smart home buyers decide to pre-qualify with a lender before even meeting with someone selling a home. That way, the home buyer has a bit of leverage in negotiations since the seller knows that the prospective buyer has already been vetted by the lending institution for a certain amount of mortgage money.
If at all possible, you should learn as much as you can about the home purchase agreement before you sign it. Doing so can save you a lot of stress and money. An excellent resource to bone up on the details is a little booklet titled, "Buying Your Home: Settlement Costs and Helpful Information."
Home Buying and Negotiations
One way to prepare to cut the best deal when you are buying a house is to review sample home purchase agreements. A little online research can help you get started. In addition, when you are ready to make an offer on a home, the buyer’s real estate broker often will give you a copy of their agency’s standard sales contract.
What’s important to remember is that this is just a starting point. You can make changes, or even add things to the contract. However, you will only make progress when the seller also agrees to the changes. That’s where the services of a good real estate agent and lawyer come into play.
Ensuring a smooth home sale
And, you will need to settle on a move in date, and make sure you know what appliances and other items will be included as part of the sale. By getting all the details into the purchase agreement you will save both you and the seller some headaches. Because in some cases a buyer may want to keep the window treatments because they fit the decor. And, it could be that the seller doesn't feel strongly about taking them to his or her new house. So, they both agree that the sale will include the drapes and curtains remaining in the house at the time of sale.
In real estate language, this is also discussed as "what conveys" with the sale. That is, what is included at no additional cost. There are also other situations where an item, say a large, decorative wall mirror, is of interest to the buyer, but the seller was planning to take it to the next house. This is where the buyer would make an offer, separate from the other costs of sale, to purchase individual items.
If everything is laid out clearly in the home purchase agreement, you should have smooth sailing in the closing and when you move in. Otherwise, you could find yourself without the items you had wanted to remain in the house.
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