You’ll be notified immediately when an offer is received on your property. Often the offer is being brought by an Agent other than your Listing Agent, and perhaps by a different co-operating brokerage.
The Agent who procured the offer may wish to be present during presentations. That may be helpful in fact. They can answer questions such as timing for closing, financial pre-qualifications of the buyer and in the case of an offer conditional on the sale of a property, what the specifics of that property are.
Regardless, the presentation will be handled by your Listing Agent. And after presentation, the other Agent will leave and you will be free to discuss the merits of the offer candidly with your Listing Agent.
Remember, your Listing Agent works for you. He/She is committed to your best interests. The other Agent, except for cases of dual agency, does not. They are looking out for the best interest of their buyer.
With any offer you have three choices. You can accept it, and you have a deal. You can reject it outright in which case you are back at square one, or you can counter. Sign it back with price and terms that are more suitable to you.
Many deals that could and should have been done are lost right here. The Agent is a poor negotiator. Your RE/MAX Agent is not. They know how to negotiate. They know what is important and where concessions can be made. They are master salespeople. The goal here is to come up with a happy meeting of the minds. If a deal can be made, your RE/MAX Agent is the one who can make it happen.
Some buyers have all cash. They know what they are buying. Their offer is what we call a ‘one liner’. These are rare. Generally most buyers have certain conditions attached to their offer. Financing and home inspection are most common. Occasionally the buyer has a house to sell and the offer will be contingent on that.
Your Agent will go over all these with you. Make sure the conditions and time periods for fulfillment are reasonable, and as much as possible do his/her homeworkto ensure the buyers are creditable.
Often these conditions will require some accommodation on your part. Making your home available for building inspection or appraisal is just one example. Your Agent will keep you abreast of developments and progress throughout the condition period, and let you know in writing as soon as the conditions are lifted or fulfilled.
One of the challenges when selling and buying a property is the actual change of hands. In theory the buyer hands over the money and gets the keys. That is supposed to happen when the deed gets registered. But practically speaking, there is furniture to pack and move, and cleaning to be done. The mover may leave one property but may not be able to get immediately into the next.
The best and most streamlined solution is to arrange bridge financing so that you can have a couple of days to move into your new home before you officially leave your old one. This is surprisingly inexpensive for a matter of only a couple of days, and if it is at all practical it should be considered. But it is not always practical.
At any rate, this is something that you’ll want to discuss with your Agent, your lawyer and your mover well ahead of the actual closing date.