Making your Offer to Purchase a New Home

10 April 2015

When making an offer to purchase a new home there are several people involved and this week’s article addresses some points to consider in relation to who is involved and how they are effect the purchase of a new property.

  1. The Real Estate Agent is the go-between for the Vendor and the purchaser and draw up the sale & purchase agreement.  While the agent is working and being remunerated by the Vendor the agent is wanting to make the deal happen and often act as a mentor to the purchaser to ensure a successful outcome.  While many look at agents suspiciously in our experience we have found most agents are helpful and operate well above the minimum standards set by the law.  
  2. The Purchasers’ Solicitor is the legal representative that will ensure the purchaser understand the legal implications of the contract.  While the solicitor prefers to be involved before the contract is signed they accept that they will not. Clauses can be inserted in the contract to safeguard the purchaser if an offer is made prior to consulting solicitors.  This clause was recommended by Hamertons Solicitors “subject to solicitors approval as to the form and content of the agreement and the title to the land in all respects”.  The purchaser’s solicitor will be paid by the solicitor generally on settlement date.   
  3. The Vendor’s solicitor is the Vendor’s legal representative.  The Vendor pays for their services on settlement. In the event there is a private sale it is usually the Vendor’s solicitor that draws up the sale & purchase agreement.  
  4. The Mortgage Broker is responsible for arranging the finance for the purchaser.   Generally the mortgage broker is one of the earliest ones to be involved as  most contracts are reliant on finance and people want to know what sort of lending they are eligible for.  They ensure finance is unconditionally approved within the time frames stipulated on the agreement.  The service provided by the mortgage broker is free as they are remunerated by Lenders. 
  5. The Vendor is the owner of the house selling the house.  While the real estate agent and/or solicitor liaises between Purchaser and Vendor there will be some relationship between the 2.   Vendors are real people and as such are filled with emotions and previous experiences.   If there is no communication to the Vendor they could become nervous, stressed and perhaps assume that the sale may fall over.  They may be mistrusting of the purchaser having had previous experiences with other purchasers and may come across as being unreasonable.  Some successful practices that we have seen is where the purchaser talks to the agent as if they were talking to the Vendor – explain reasons for their offer, set out expectations, tell them why they are interested in the property or have concerns.  Keeping in touch with the agent as to your progress is another way of making sure that the relationship between Vendor and purchaser remains strong.  

The most unsuccessful purchasers we have seen have a couple of things in common.  They don’t communicate to their Vendor and agent what is happening.  They can be arrogant with their offers and inconsiderate of the Vendor.  The more the Vendor trusts and respects the Purchaser the more likely they are to be accommodating.

 

Published In Whakatane Beacon

This post was written by

Trish Marsden - who has written 5 posts

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