Option Period, Inspections,
Appraisals
Every offer may look different in every property. Your real estate agent will analyze with you a comparative market analysis, will consider the deficiencies of the property, the age of the property, amenities, the number of homes sold recently in the area and the amount of offers the house may have by the time you are making your offer. The status of frauds requires all offers to be valid in order to be enforced. On the other hand, Texas allow verbal offers. In order to fully protect you, all offers we will prepare will be signed by the buyers.
Option Period
The option period is an optional and highly recommended set of days that you purchase for a nominal fee when you make an offer on a property in order to make sure the property doesn’t have any adversity or major repairs to be done. It normally ranges from 0 to 7 days, but you can buy as many days as you wish as long that the sellers agree to this. But remember, the least days, the more attractive your offer will be.
Home Inspection
Normally buyers pay for inspection once the contract has been executed (an offer has been accepted and delivered). A home inspection is not required by the lender but is highly recommended by your real estate agent. Home inspections happen within the first days of your option period. If you find major problems on the subject property and you are still within your option period, you can renegotiate the terms on the purchase. You can ask for repairs, ask for a seller’s concession, or lower the sales price of the property. However, it is difficult to negotiate repairs that were visible when you visited the property or repairs mentioned in the seller’s disclosure.
Appraisal
The appraisal is an opinion of the value of your home. The appraisal is required by your lender, if you pay in cash, you are not required to get an appraisal. In Texas, appraisals are conducted by a licensed home appraiser as mandated by the Texas Real Estate Commission. Appraisal can be ordered as soon as you submit the contract to the lender. However, if you have an option periods in place, make sure that you have checked the home inspection report and you are ready to move forward with the conditions of the property. Also make sure that any repairs paid by the seller are in writing.
Survey
A property survey confirms a property’s boundary lines and legal description. It also determines other restrictions or easements included in the property. Survey can be paid either by buyer or seller and it is to be ordered within a certain period of days after the contract has been accepted. Sometimes an old survey can be sufficient if the property has not had substantial structural modifications. When using a previous survey in a transaction, seller signs a T-47 Affidavvitt to declare that the house has not had substantial structural modifications within the period of time they lived there.