Making an offer

An offer is a written proposal to buy a specific house at a specific price, on dates you and the seller fill in. The seller can accept it, reject it, or send back a counteroffer. A counteroffer is a written change. The deal starts when both sides have accepted the same terms. That moment is acceptance.

The price is only one line. The contract also covers what stays with the house, who holds the earnest money, and the deadlines below. Furniture stays only if the contract says so. In a ski house, ask about furnishings before you assume they are included.

Read every box. Several buyer protections apply only if the box that turns them on is checked. An unchecked box means that protection is not in your contract.

Earnest money is a deposit. It shows you intend to complete the purchase. It is not an extra fee. If the sale closes, it is credited toward the price.

On the standard form, you deliver the earnest money within four calendar days after acceptance. The brokerage then has four calendar days to deposit it into its trust account, or with a title company when the contract says to do that. If your contract changes those days, follow the contract. If the money is not delivered on time, the seller may be able to cancel.

The contract also has a line for additional earnest money later. The amount and the date are blanks. Read them.

Whether you get the deposit back depends on the deadlines and the boxes you checked. Canceling inside a right the contract gives you is different from walking away after those rights have ended. If a buyer defaults, the contract lets the seller choose among keeping the earnest money, suing to force the sale, or other remedies the form lists. Do not treat the deposit as spare cash.

The dates are not set by a statewide timetable. You and the seller write them in. On the form in wide use, look for a seller disclosure deadline, a due diligence deadline, a financing and appraisal deadline, and a settlement deadline. A later printing of the form may split one of those lines. Use the dates on the copy you sign.

On the standard form, a deadline is 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time on the date you wrote, unless the contract says otherwise. Days are calendar days. Weekends count. Missing a deadline can change your rights. Put the dates on a calendar the day the contract is accepted.

Inspections happen during due diligence. You choose the inspectors and you pay them. A general home inspection is common. For a mountain house, buyers often add the roof, radon, and the heating system. The ski-home page lists those items.

The seller does not have to repair what the inspector finds. You have three practical paths, and they have to fit the deadline. You can cancel in writing if the due diligence box is checked. You can ask for a repair, a credit, or a price change, which counts only when both sides sign it. Or you can go forward with what you know.

An inspection tells you about condition. An appraisal estimates value. They are different reports. You can be content with one and unhappy with the other.

If you are borrowing, the lender usually orders an appraisal from a licensed appraiser. The appraiser’s job is an opinion of value, not a punch list of repairs.

The appraisal condition is a box. If it is checked, and the appraiser values the home below the purchase price, you may cancel in writing by the appraisal deadline in the contract. Send the seller the written notice the form requires, including the appraisal paperwork it names. The form says the earnest money comes back to you. If you do not cancel by that deadline, the form treats the appraisal condition as waived.

If the box is not checked, that cancel right is not in the contract. A low appraisal can still matter to the lender. Talk with your advisor and the lender before you waive it. You and the seller can also try to renegotiate the price. A new price exists when you both sign it.