Imagine getting 40 written offers on your home. Which one do you pick? The chances are you won’t like any of them well enough to accept. Unless the Buyer commits to close, why should the Seller commit themselves to the Buyer? Isn’t the Buyer committing to settle? Typically not.
With contingencies sprinkled throughout the contract, the Buyer has protection from an obligation to close. The standard Offer to purchase is a proposal to move from acceptance of the Offer to closing while the Buyer does due diligence to be satisfied with the property and the terms. An accepted Offer is more restrictive on the Seller than it is on the Buyer.
In a market favoring the Buyer, the purchase agreement works well. With few or no options, the Seller takes what they can get, and the Buyer enjoys all of the opportunities to change their mind or renegotiate. That’s not going to fly in a Seller’s market. As long as agents keep filling in standard forms with standard contingencies, it’s hard to tell one person from another. Every Buyer might have different motivations and commitments, but their Offer to Purchase says something different; it says, “I’m just as reluctant as the next guy. I might show up for closing, but I’m not sure yet.”
A Buyer Agent who knows how to take each section of the Offer and break it down to its fundamental intent gives their client more of what they need to know to make an Offer that better represents their commitment. The agent who thinks critically of the Offer and learns to guide clients to alternative terms is the agent who is likely to get an offer accepted for a buyer client when the competition is heavy.
The most acceptable offer gives the seller a great price, and terms show absolute commitment to close on time with no concessions. Knowing what will be a great price is the hard part.
