Mortgage Process

An important part of purchasing a home, is making sure it has “good bones.” That is why it smart to make your offer contingent on inspection. This allows you to cancel your offer if an inspection comes back with issues. Some of the inspections that can be done by a professional are:

• Foundation
• Plumbing
• Heating and cooling system
• Electrical system
• Roof
• Termite/Pest
• Lagoon
• Exterior grading (to make sure water drains away from house) 

The letter to the sellers will contain the following information

• The price you are willing to pay
• When you want to move in by
• What all inspection you want
  • Structural, plumbing, electrical, etc.
• If you will be financing and if so, by who
  • Remember that pre-approval letter we talked about?

Once this letter is submitted, you will typically hear back in 24-48 hours. At that time, you will find out if your offer is accepted under the terms you listed, or if there is a counter-offer (they want to sell you their house, but want to change the terms)

If you are presented with a counter-offer, you can decide to accept or counter again.

Earnest money is sometimes called a good-faith deposit. These are funds submitted with an offer to demonstrate you are serious towards purchasing the home.

• Typically, these funds are a deposit towards closing costs or inspections if the offer is accepted.
• If the offer is rejected, the money is returned to you.
• If the offer is accepted and then the house does not close, you could be at risk at losing the funds.