You have spent weeks, maybe months searching for the perfect home, and you have done it. It is time you would like to purchase, and will need to present the vendor with an Offer to Purchase or an Agreement of Purchase and Sale.
Purchasing a home will be one of the biggest investments you make in your life, and working with a real estate agent or lawyer might be a wise decision, as they can ensure everything is prepared accordingly.
Keep in mind that the Offer to Purchase or an Agreement of Purchase and Sale is a legal document and should be prepared carefully as it will bind you to the purchase once it is accepted by the vendor.
Any offer or agreement will typically include the following:
- Your legal name
- The name of the vendor and the legal civic address of the property
- Purchase price offered
- The chattels that will be included in the purchase price
- Whatever is in the home that you think are included in the sale, specifically stated
- Deposit amount
- Closing day
- Request for a current land survey of the property
- Request to have home inspected before purchase, and if any faults found, price is adjusted accordingly
- Date when the offer becomes void
- Any other conditions that go with the offer, such as approval of mortgage financing
With this process, it is not uncommon to receive a counteroffer and then revising it again to sent to the vendor. This can go on at least twice, until you or the vendor realizes that this is just wasting your time as no agreement can be met.
It is important to have an home inspection before the purchase of the home, as you do not want to find that there are multiple problems in the home after you buy it. Having it stated in your Offer to Purchase or an Agreement of Purchase and Sale that you will not follow through with the agreement if there is no home inspection and/or there must be price adjustments for any problems found is the best way to go about it.
The homebuying process is reaching its end, with the final steps on its way. Look forward to hearing about it and remember that this step might be the second to last but it is by far one of the most important ones.
Heleen Jacobsen
Broker of Record with InfoMarket Group GMAC Real Estate
www.infomarketgroup.com
