An Insider’s Look at the Offer Process

Ed Pluchar with Real People Realty Podcast

You're ready to make an offer on a home. Here's what you can expect to happen next.

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One of the questions I get a lot is, “How do things work once we’re ready to make an offer?”
Well, here’s how it works: We will fill out a contract, typically using what is called a 6.1 Contract—the standard of the Realtor board. Over 90% of all transactions in Illinois are conducted using the 6.1 Contract. It was drafted with the goal of being fair to both buyers and sellers at the same time.
We take the contract out either electronically or on paper and fill in the terms—it’s very easy to do. We’ll go over the price, closing date, what kind of finances you have, etc. We need to make sure the seller is aware of the quality and the characteristics of your purchase.

There’s a lot of 'hurry up and wait' in the real estate process.

It’s that simple. After that, we send it off to the seller’s agent and wait. Typically, it’s less than 24 hours—sometimes less than one hour—before we’ll get a response back saying, “Here’s how we feel about that offer.”
Unless you’re making a full-price offer, almost invariably, you’re going to get a counteroffer. Now we move to verbal negotiation.
Price is the major item discussed in this negotiation, as well as closing dates. You might also expect to hear the phrase “as-is” during this process, which means the seller is communicating that the house you’re looking to buy will come as-is, with no changes made by the seller’s party.
Finally, agents for both parties will come to a verbal agreement, after which we’ll put it in writing and revise the contract. Once you’ve signed or initialed the altered portions of the contract, it will be sent to the seller, who will then sign it themselves. Then we’re off to the races.
If you have any questions about the process or want more information, give me a call at [phone] or email me at [e-mail]. Thanks for watching!